U.S. shale production is set to snap a three-month decline in February, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said on Tuesday, as energy firms boost drilling activity with crude prices hovering near 18-month highs.
February production will edge up 40,750 barrels per day (bpd) to 4.748 million bpd, the EIA said. In January, it was expected to drop by 5,900 bpd.
“It’s the eternal question about the current flat price and what it does to U.S. crude oil production,” Petromatrix oil strategist Olivier Jakob said.
The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, excluding Indonesia, pumped 33.085 million barrels per day (bpd) last month, according to figures OPEC collects from secondary sources, down 221,000 bpd from November, OPEC said in a monthly report on Wednesday.
The figures showed the biggest reduction came from Saudi Arabia, which told OPEC it cut output to 10.47 million bpd.
OPEC cut its forecast of supply in 2017 from non-member countries following pledges by Russia and other non-members to join OPEC in limiting output.
OPEC now expects non-OPEC supply to rise by 120,000 bpd this year, down from growth of 300,000 bpd forecast last month, despite an upwardly revised forecast of U.S. supply, Reuters reports.
