Washington [US], August 22: Crude oil production in the United States will grow to an average of 13.7 million barrels per day (b/d) and marketed natural gas production will grow to an average of 114.3 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) in 2025, according to the latest Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO), released today by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).
STEO noted that most of the forecast growth in oil and natural gas production comes from the Permian region of western Texas and eastern New Mexico, where we expect productivity gains, new and expanded infrastructure, and high crude oil prices will support rising production.
STEO said U.S. crude oil and natural gas production has been increasing despite a decline in the number of active rigs since late 2022. Since early 2023, the Permian region has had more active rigs than the rest of the Lower 48 states and has continued to complete hundreds of wells (or prepare them for production) each month.
As of July 2024, it added, newly completed wells in the Permian were producing an average of 433,000 b/d in their first full month. Natural gas production from new Permian wells in July 2024 averaged 780 million cubic feet per day. This new well production is more than offsetting the declines in production from existing wells.
Growing well productivity suggests that operators in the Permian are successfully implementing more advanced drilling and completion techniques, including longer lateral lengths, optimized well spacing, and enhanced fracturing designs.
"We forecast that crude oil production in the Permian region will increase by 430,000 b/d from 2023 to 6.3 million b/d in 2024 and 6.6 million b/d in 2025, partly due to drilling productivity improvements,'' STEO said. "Similarly, we forecast that marketed natural gas production in the Permian region will rise by 1.9 Bcf/d in 2024 and by 1.0 Bcf/d in 2025 to average 25.8 Bcf/d in 2025. Most of the natural gas production in the Permian is associated natural gas and comes from oil-directed wells. We expect crude oil prices will remain sufficiently high to support growth in crude oil production and associated natural gas production in the region.''
Source: Emirates News agency