U.S. crude oil production last week surpassed 10.5 million barrels per day (bpd), according to the country's Energy Information Administration (EIA) data on Wednesday.
Crude oil output rose by 65,000 bpd for the week ending April 6 to reach 10.52 million bpd, the EIA data showed.
This marked the 12th weekly increase in the U.S.' domestic crude production in the past 13 weeks.
The U.S.' crude oil output surpassed the world's second-largest crude producer Saudi Arabia in February.
"Since the start of the year, U.S. production has grown by about 50,000 bpd per week," Thomas Pugh, a commodities economist at London-based Capital Economics said in a note.
"If this rate is maintained, the U.S. would overtake Russia and become the world’s largest oil producer before the end of Q2," he added.
The EIA said in its Short-Term Energy Outlook report for April that it expects crude oil production in the U.S. to average 10.7 million bpd this year, and 11.4 million bpd next year -- a level that would leave the world's biggest crude producer Russia behind.
"The recent increase in prices is likely to encourage even more U.S. production," Pugh said.
On Tuesday, Brent crude hit its highest level since December 2014 amid rising tensions in the Middle East that pose a threat to supply security.
The EIA also said Wednesday that commercial crude oil stocks in the U.S. rose by 3.3 million barrels, or 0.8 percent, to 428.6 million barrels for the week ending April 6.
The market expectation for commercial crude inventories was a decline of 0.6 million barrels. During the previous week, crude stocks fell by 4.6 million barrels.
"Inventories of crude oil jumped last week as net imports rebounded and production rose again," Pugh said.
Imports rose by 752,000 bpd to 8.65 million bpd for the week ending April 6, according to the EIA data.
By Ovunc Kutlu in New York
Anadolu Agency
energy@aa.com.tr