US Shale Oil Production to Rise 141,000 Barrels a Day in July

Energy

Published: June 18, 2018 2:26 pm

Last Updated: January 11, 2020 10:12 pm

Between July of 2017 and July of 2018, U.S. crude oil production from seven major shale regions is forecast to rise by 1.7 million barrels of oil per day to 7.34 million barrels a day. The month-over-month increase from June to July is expected to total 141,000 barrels a day.

The forecast was published Monday by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) in its monthly Drilling Productivity Report. Total production in June is forecast to reach 7.2 million barrels a day, an increase of 164,000 barrels a day compared with previously estimated May production.

In March the number of drilled but uncompleted (DUC) wells rose by 94 to a total of 7,622 including 122 new wells in the Permian basin.

In April the number of DUC wells rose by 55 to a total of 7,677 including 111 new wells in the Permian basin.

In May the number of DUC wells rose by 31 to a total of 7,772 including 100 new wells in the Permian basin.

No overall oil production declines are forecast either for June or July, and production from new wells is expected to increase by 2 barrels per day per rig to 677 month over month in July.

Natural gas production is expected to increase by 1.14 billion cubic feet per day. Production in the Permian Basin is expected to rise by 229 million cubic feet in July. Haynesville gas production is forecast to rise by 235 million cubic feet per day and Niobrara production is expected to be up by 52 million cubic feet per day.

WTI crude oil for July delivery traded Monday at $65.90 a barrel, up about 1.3% from Friday’s closing price of $65.06. July crude opened at $64.46 Monday morning.

Natural gas for July delivery traded Monday at $2.95 per million BTUs, down about 2.35% from Friday’s closing price of $3.02. July gas opened at around $3.05 Monday morning.