US Bakken tight-oil output to overtake Iraq
Total US unconventional oil production may surpass second- and third-largest Opec members by 2020
Buoyed by prolonged high prices, the trickle of US shale and tight oil production is turning into a flood of new crude supply which could overtake Iraq’s and Iran’s output by 2020. The US’ unconventional oil production could reach 6.6 million barrels a day (b/d) by 2020, according to a Harvard University Belfer Centre report published last month. This compares with Iran’s 3.6 million b/d production in 2011 and Iraq’s 2.7 million b/d, which were the second and third largest Opec producers after Saudi Arabia, Opec data showed. The Belfer Centre report also estimated US shale oil and tight oil to be profitable at a WTI crude oil price of $50-65 a barrel, with Bakken and Three Forks at under $70
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