U.S. Remains World's Largest Oil Producer for Sixth Year in a Row

By Charles Kennedy - Mar 11, 2024,

The United States produced more crude oil than any other country in 2023, for the sixth year in a row, with production averaging 12.9 million barrels per day, up from 12.3 million bpd in 2019, which set a global record at the time, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA). 

The U.S. also set a monthly global production record in December, hitting 13.3 million bpd that month. 

The potential for any other country to beat this monthly record in the short term is very low, according to the EIA, based on capacity. The only country capable of reaching the U.S. capacity of 13 million bpd is state-owned Saudi Aramco, which recently announced it was halting output capacity expansion plans, which would have brought it up to 13 million bpd by 2027. 

Last year, the U.S., Saudi Arabia and Russia were responsible for 40% (32.8 million bpd) of the world’s crude oil output, followed by Canada, Iraq and China. 

Russian production, according to the EIA, fell by 200,000 bpd last year, due to sanctions and Russia’s OPEC+ voluntary cuts. Saudi production fell by about 900,000 bpd due to OPEC+ quotas and voluntary cuts. 

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The increases in output on the U.S. side are thanks to new drilling technologies, with the Permian basin primarily responsible for the increases. 

U.S. production peaked in 1970 at 9.6 million bpd and then went into a state of decline, dropping to 5 million bpd in 2008, with output again increasing in 2009 thanks to hydraulic fracturing and enhanced oil recovery technology. Growth continued from then on, until the COVID pandemic, according to the EIA.

By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com