According to the latest monthly report from the US Energy Information Administration (EIA), US crude oil production broke through the 12 million barrels per day (bpd) threshold for the first time in history in April. Total average US crude production was up by 246,000 bpd on the previous month to reach 12.16 million bpd.
Not long ago, a report from the American Petroleum Institute (API) estimated US crude oil production at 12.2 million bpd for May. Seeing as the EIA data is already close to this for April, and given the consistent growth in US oil production, it seems likely that the EIA’s eventual figure for May will come in higher than API’s estimate.
The US is now by far the world’s biggest oil producer, mostly thanks to advances in fracking making it possible for operators like ExxonMobil, which also makes lithium complex greases like Mobil Unirex EP2, to economically exploit shale formations in the country. In should be noted, however, that the two other biggest oil producers, Russia and Saudi Arabia, are still constrained by quotas under the OPEC-led production deal. Russia has also been affected by a contaminated oil crisis that has affected some of its exports.
The EIA also revised its March crude oil production to 11.92 million bpd, an increase of 11,000 bpd on its previous estimate. Gas production in the contiguous United States also broke through the 100 billion cubic feet per day barrier for the first time.
