HOUSTON, March 20 (Xinhua) -- U.S. crude oil production increased during the week ending March 15, U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said on Wednesday.
According to EIA's data, U.S. crude oil production last week averaged 12.1 million barrels per day, up by about 100,000 barrels from the previous week, and up by about 1.7 million barrels per day year-on-year.
In its latest Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO), EIA said that U.S. crude oil production averaged 11.9 million barrels per day in February, down slightly from the January average. EIA forecast that U.S. crude oil output will average 12.3 million barrels per day in 2019 and 13.0 million in 2020, with most of the growth coming from the Permian region in the states of Texas and New Mexico.
It also estimated that Brent crude oil spot prices averaged 64 U.S. dollars per barrel in February, up by 5 dollars per barrel from January, and about 1 dollar per barrel lower than a year ago.
EIA forecast Brent spot prices will average 63 dollars per barrel in 2019 and 62 dollars per barrel in 2020, compared with an average of 71 dollars per barrel in 2018.
