Nearing the cliff edge
As things stand now, US oil output is about to start dropping quickly. Almost 1m barrels per day could be lost
AMERICAN oil output surprised many last year with its resilience in the face of low oil prices. This year, people might be surprised at how far production falls. With oil prices showing no sign of recovery, producers are signaling nearly 50% capital expenditure cuts and plan to continue pulling rigs. Funding is drying up and price hedges are rolling off. Few, if any, wells are profitable at oil prices around $30 a barrel. New long-lead-time projects from the Gulf of Mexico will help prop up output, but it all adds up to a year of declines. Crude production could fall by around 0.9m barrels a day, from 9.3m b/d at the end of 2015 to 8.4m b/d by the end of 2016. The Bakken and Eagle Ford shale
Also in this section
3 July 2025
The July/August 2025 issue of Petroleum Economist is out now!
2 July 2025
The global energy community will converge in Dubai on 10 December for a landmark event dedicated to shaping the future of natural gas across the region
30 June 2025
Government is sending out the right policy signals to support increased domestic gas development, but policy takes time to implement and even longer to yield results
27 June 2025
Gas-on-gas competition pricing has grown its share of consumption significantly over the past two decades, primarily at the expense of oil-price-escalation pricing, according to the IGU
