U.S. Energy Information Administration said this week the U.S. produced more crude oil in 2023 than any nation ever for the sixth straight year. Crude oil production in the U.S., including condensate, averaged 12.9 million barrels per day in 2023 – breaking the previous U.S. and global record of 12.3 million b/d in 2018. Average U.S. monthly crude oil production established a monthly record high in December 2023 of more than 13.3 million b/d.
EIA said Monday the crude oil production record in the U.S. in 2023 is unlikely to be broken by any other country in the near term because no other country has reached production capacity of 13.0 million b/d. The state-owned Saudi Aramco reportedly recently scrapped plans to increase production capacity to 13.0 million b/d by 2027.
After peaking at 9.6 million b/d in 1970, U.S. annual crude oil production flattened and then generally declined for decades to a low of 5.0 million b/d in 2008. Production began increasing in 2009 as producers increasingly used hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling. The only exception was 2020 and 2021 when demand and prices fell because of economic effects of a global pandemic.
EIA added, “In recent years, crude oil production in Permian Basin … drove the increases in total crude oil and natural gas production in the U.S.”