HOUSTON, Aug. 6 (Xinhua) -- U.S. crude oil production will reach record high in 2019 and 2020, according to a reported released Tuesday by U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).
In the EIA's latest Short-Term Energy Outlook, U.S. crude oil production will average 12.3 million barrels per day (b/d) in 2019 and 13.3 million b/d in 2020, both of which would be at record levels.
EIA estimates that U.S. crude oil production averaged 11.7 million b/d in July 2019, down by 0.3 million b/d from the June level. The declines were mostly in the Federal Gulf of Mexico, where operators shut platforms for several days in mid-July because of Hurricane Barry.
In terms of oil prices, EIA said Brent crude oil spot prices averaged 64 U.S. dollars per barrel in July, almost unchanged from the average in June 2019 but 10 dollars per barrel lower than the price in the previous July.
EIA forecast Brent spot prices will average 64 dollars per barrel in the second half of 2019 and 65 dollars per barrel in 2020.
The forecast of stable crude oil prices is the result of EIA's expectation for a relatively balanced global oil market. EIA forecast global oil inventories will increase by 0.1 million b/d in 2019 and 0.3 million b/d in 2020.
