US Energy Information Administration

While renewable energy sources are poised to see major growth, possibly displacing natural gas as the top source of electricity in the US, hydrocarbon production will remain above or near current historical highs until at least 2050.

Proved oil reserves totaled 43.8 billion bbl at yearend 2018 while proved gas reserves amounted to 504.5 Tcf, both topping records set in 2017, the US Energy Information Administration said.

It is the first time the country was a net exporter of crude and petroleum products during a month since the US Energy Information Administration began keeping such records in 1973.

New projects coming on stream will boost US gulf oil output to 1.9 million B/D in 2019 and 2 million B/D in 2020, EIA projects.

Output fell below 12 million B/D and was down more than 300,000 B/D from an all-time high in April, according to data from the US Energy Information Administration.

Average production from Bakken wells completed more than 3 years after they were drilled was approximately equal to wells drilled a year before they were put into service, according to a study by the US Energy Information Administration.

The new milestone was reached less than a year after the country surpassed 11 million B/D last summer, and is driven by activity in the Permian Basin and new fields in the Gulf of Mexico.

Reports 20 June that Iran shot down a US Navy drone over the Strait of Hormuz—the global oil market’s most critical transit point—exacerbated tensions in the region following a pair of attacks on oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman just a week earlier.

Oilfield flares are a bright indicator of rapidly rising oil production that exceeds pipeline capacity. And it raises the question: Why are oil companies in such a hurry?

The recent production freefall could accelerate even further as US sanctions-related deadlines pass, the US Energy Information Administration said.