HOUSTON, Feb. 1 (Xinhua) -- U.S. crude oil production surpassed 10 million barrels per day in November 2017, the first time since 1970, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said Thursday.
According to EIA's latest Petroleum Supply Monthly report, U.S. crude oil production reached 10.038 million barrels per day in November 2017, which is also the second-highest U.S. monthly oil production value ever, just below the November 1970 production value of 10.044 million barrels per day.
The EIA's report showed that within the Lower 48 states, November 2017 production reached a record high in Texas at 3.89 million barrels per day, followed by North Dakota at 1.18 million barrels per day. Production in the Federal Gulf of Mexico reached 1.67 million barrels per day, up 14 percent from the October 2017.
U.S. crude oil production has increased significantly over the past 10 years, driven mainly by production from tight rock formations including shale and other fine-grained rock using horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing to improve efficiency.
EIA estimates of crude oil production from tight formations in November 2017 reached 5.09 million battels per day, surpassing a previous high of 4.70 million barrels per day in March 2015. These formations also produce considerable volumes of natural gas associated with the crude oil.
Liquid production-both crude oil and condensate-from tight rock currently accounts for about 51 percent of total production. A decade ago, in November 2008, production from tight formations accounted for only 7 percent of total U.S. production.
Meanwhile, non-tight oil production has been mostly constant over the previous decade.
After increasing relatively steadily since 2011, U.S. tight rock oil production began to decline after the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil price decreased from 105 U.S. dollars a barrel in June 2014 to a low of 30 dollars a barrel in February 2016.
WTI crude oil prices, the U.S. benchmark for the price of oil, were about 60 dollars a barrel in January 2018.
