Here’s something to be thankful for this Thanksgiving — U.S. oil production broke another milestone, according to the latest federal statistics.
The latest U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) data shows oil production hit 11.7 million barrels a day during the week ending Nov. 16. That’s unchanged from the previous week, but up significantly from the week ending Nov. 9
Oil companies are pulling more than 2 million barrels more out of the ground now than during the same time period in 2017, EIA reported. That’s a 21-percent increase in oil production in the past year.
American oil production has more than doubled in the past eight years, largely due to the advent of hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling into underground shale formations. U.S. output increased enough to overtake Saudi Arabia and Russia as the world’s top oil producing nation earlier in 2018.
However, the oil boom has almost exclusively happened on state and private lands while federally managed areas have lagged behind. – READ MORE