EIA: US top producer of petroleum and natural gas hydrocarbons

The US retained this position for the fifth straight year, despite production declines for both petroleum and natural gas relative to their 2015 levels.

Total petroleum production is made up of several different types of liquid fuels, including crude oil and lease condensate, tight oil, extra heavy oil, and bitumen. In addition, various processes produce natural gas plant liquids (NGPL), biofuels, and refinery processing gain, among other liquid fuels.

In the US, crude oil and lease condensate accounted for approximately 60% of total petroleum hydrocarbon production in 2016. US petroleum production fell by 300 000 bpd in 2016, as a result of relatively low oil prices. US natural gas production decreased by 2.3 billion ft³/d in 2016.

Russian hydrocarbon production has been rising as capital expenditure spending on exploration and production increased. Russia also has favourable tax regimes and exchange rates that resulted in record levels of Russian petroleum production in the 2H16. Russian natural gas production also rose in 2016, in part to meet growth in European natural gas demand.

In contrast to past actions to raise or lower oil production levels to balance global oil markets, Saudi Arabia did not reduce its petroleum production between late 2014 and 2016 in an effort to defend its market share, even as prices remained low and world oil inventories continued to grow. In 2016, Saudi Arabia's total petroleum and natural gas hydrocarbon production rose by 3%.

The EIA’s June ‘Short-Term Energy Outlook’ suggests that US petroleum and other liquid fuels production is expected to increase, reaching 15.6 million bpd in 2017 and 16.7 million bpd in 2018, up from 14.8 million bpd in 2016.

Read the article online at: https://www.hydrocarbonengineering.com/gas-processing/08062017/eia-us-top-producer-of-petroleum-and-natural-gas-hydrocarbons/