US Crude Oil Production in 2014 Sees Highest Growth in Over 100 Years

The US Energy Information Administration reported that during 2014 US crude oil production increased by 1.2 million barrels per day to 8.7 million barrels, the largest volume recording since 1900, when record-keeping first began.

As quoted in the market news:

On a percentage basis, output in 2014 increased by 16.2 percent, the highest growth rate since 1940. Most of the increase during 2014 came from tight oil plays in North Dakota, Texas, and New Mexico where hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling were used to produce oil from shale formations.

In percentage terms, the 2014 increase is the largest in more than six decades. Annual increases in crude oil production regularly surpassed 15 percent in the first half of the 20th century, but those changes were relatively less in absolute terms because production levels were much lower than they are now. Crude oil production in the United States has increased in each of the previous six years. This trend follows a period from 1985 to 2008 in which crude oil production fell in every year (except one).

Click here to read the full US Energy Information Administration report.