US crude output reaches monthly record in August at 13.05 million bpd -EIA
Nov 13, 2023

NEW YORK, Oct 31 (Reuters) - U.S. field production of crude oil rose to a new monthly record in August at 13.05 million barrels per day, the Energy Information Administration said on Tuesday.


Output rose 0.7% in August from the month prior, the data showed. The previous monthly high was in November 2019, when production reached 13.0 million bpd.


The monthly high is still shy of a weekly record for U.S. oil production at 13.2 million bpd, hit in the week to Oct. 6.


Production in the world's top oil producer recovered slowly over the last three years as companies used record profits to increase dividends and buybacks rather than spending to rapidly increase drilling and production.


In Texas, the top U.S. oil-producing state, output in August rose by 0.5% to a monthly record of 5.63 million bpd, the EIA data showed.


In New Mexico and North Dakota, production rose to nearly 1.80 million bpd and 1.22 million bpd, respectively.


Gross natural gas production in the U.S. Lower 48 states rose 1.2 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) to a record 116.3 bcfd in August from 115.0 bcfd in July, according to EIA's monthly 914 production report.


That topped the prior all-time high of 115.2 bcfd in May.


In top gas-producing states, monthly output in August rose 0.9% in Texas to a new record 34.4 bcfd and 0.5% % in Pennsylvania to 20.9 bcfd.


That topped the prior all-time high of 34.1 bcfd in Texas in July and compares with a record 21.9 bcfd in Pennsylvania in December 2021.


In demand, U.S. product supplied of crude and petroleum products rose in August to 20.88 million bpd, the highest since August 2019, EIA data showed.


Demand for motor gasoline gained to nearly 9.3 million bpd, the highest since June 2021.


Reporting by Stephanie Kelly, Shariq Khan and Scott DiSavino; Editing by David Gregorio and Jonathan Oatis


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Oil eases on higher US crude output, hopes of Israel-Hamas ceasefire

By Emalee Springfield • 02 May, 2024
HOUSTON, April 30 (Reuters) - Oil prices fell 1% on Tuesday, extending losses from Monday, on the back of rising U.S. crude production, as well as hopes of an Israel-Hamas ceasefire. Brent crude futures for June, which expired on Tuesday, settled down 54 cents, or 0.6%, at $87.86 a barrel. The more active July contract fell 87 cents to $86.33. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures were down 70 cents, or 0.9%, at $81.93. The front-month contract for both benchmarks lost more than 1% on Monday. U.S. crude production rose to 13.15 million barrels per day (bpd) in February from 12.58 million bpd in January in its biggest monthly increase since October 2021, the Energy Information Administration said. Meanwhile, exports climbed to 4.66 million bpd from 4.05 million bpd in the same period. U.S. crude oil inventories rose by 4.91 million barrels in the week ended April 26, according to market sources citing American Petroleum Institute figures on Tuesday. Stocks were expected to have fallen by about 1.1 million barrels last week, an extended Reuters poll showed on Tuesday. Official data from the EIA is due on Wednesday morning. Gasoline inventories fell by 1.483 million barrels, and distillates fell by 2.187 million barrels. Expectations that a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas could be in sight have grown in recent days following a renewed push led by Egypt to revive stalled negotiations between the two. However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed on Tuesday to go ahead with a long-promised assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah. "Traders believe some of the geopolitical risk is being taken out of the market," said Dennis Kissler, senior vice president of trading at BOK Financial. "We're not seeing any global supply being taken off the market." Continued attacks by Yemen's Houthis on maritime traffic south of the Suez Canal - an important trading route - have provided a floor for oil prices and could prompt higher risk premiums if the market expects crude supply disruptions. Investors also eyed a two-day monetary policy meeting by the Federal Reserve Open Market Committee (FOMC), which gathers on Tuesday. According to the CME's FedWatch Tool, it is a virtual certainty that the FOMC will leave rates unchanged at the conclusion of the meeting on Wednesday. "The upcoming Fed meeting also drives some near-term reservations," said Yeap Jun Rong, market strategist at IG, adding that a longer period of elevated interest rates could trigger a further rise in the dollar while also threatening the oil demand outlook. Some investors are cautiously pricing in a higher probability that the Fed could raise interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point this year and next as inflation and the labor market remain resilient. U.S. product supplies of crude oil and petroleum products, EIA's measure of consumption, rose 1.9% to 19.95 million bpd in Feb. However, concerns over demand have crept up as diesel prices weakened . Balancing the market, output from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries has fallen in April, a Reuters survey found, reflecting lower exports from Iran, Iraq, and Nigeria against a backdrop of ongoing voluntary supply cuts by some members agreed with the wider OPEC+ alliance. A Reuters poll found that oil prices could hold above $80 a barrel this year, with analysts revising forecasts higher on expectations that supply will lag demand in the face of Middle East conflict and output cuts by the OPEC+ producer group. View on the Reuters Website

Oil and gas industry’s “strong” free cash flow to support increasing production targets

By Emalee Springfield • 01 May, 2024
Last year, the demand for loans from oil and gas companies fell 6% year-on-year, and that followed a decline of 1% in 2022. Oil and gas companies don’t need a lot of loans because they’re generating so much money these days from their underlying businesses, said Andrew John Stevenson, senior analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence. And that trend is likely to continue through the end of the decade, he said. “The oil and gas industry has experienced a number of booms and busts over the past few decades, but for now, it appears to be flush with cash,” he said. The healthy balance sheets reflect the boost that companies have received from rising oil prices, buoyed by robust demand and OPEC+ production cuts. The sector’s free cash flow is so strong that the group’s leverage ratio, which measures a company’s net debt relative to earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, fell to 0.8 in 2023 from 2.4 in 2020, Stevenson said. The ratio will likely slide below zero by the end of the decade, he said.
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