Today, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (“EIA”) issued its Today in Energy entitled U.S. Crude Oil Production Growth Projected to be Led by Light, Sweet Crude Oil.
We all know that I have a sweet tooth, but we aren’t talking those kinds of sweets today – we are talking light, sweet crude. It is no secret that light, sweet crude oil accounted for the growth in domestic production in recent years – but just how much growth is attributable to lighter crude from tight formations?
According to the EIA’s Today in Energy, “light, sweet crude oil, defined as having an API gravity of 35 or higher and a sulfur content of 0.3% or less” accounted for “nearly 90% of the 3.1 million barrel per day (b/d) growth in production from 2010 to 2017.”
In fact, just last week on April 4, 2018, the EIA issued a Today in Energy entitled U.S. Production of Crude Oil Grew 5% in 2017, Likely Leading to Record 2018 Production. This article discussed the significant increase in domestic crude oil production due to the development of tight rock formations. Specifically, the EIA’s April 4 Today in Energy provides as follows:
“Annual average U.S. crude oil production reached 9.3 million barrels per day (b/d) in 2017, an increase of 464,000 b/d from 2016 levels after declining by 551,000 b/d in 2016.”
“In November 2017, monthly U.S. crude oil production reached 10.07 million b/d, the highest monthly level of crude oil production in U.S. history.”
As I write this, according to Bloomberg Energy, oil prices are pretty steady – WTI Crude Oil is at $63.30 per barrel and Brent Crude is at $68.65 per barrel.
I took this photo while flying into North Dakota a couple of weeks ago – flying high above North Dakota’s Bakken oil play and the mecca of light, sweet crude.
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