Data: Energy Information Administration. Chart: Axios Visuals American oil production — already higher than any other country — is quietly setting new records and helping to push down gas prices.
Why it matters: Oil wells are booming again this year after the pandemic crushed demand and reduced production by more than 20%, Axios' Ben Geman reports.
What's happening: U.S. oil production is over 13.2 million barrels per day, topping records set in 2019.
The average gas price in the U.S. — $3.15 per gallon — has plunged since hitting records in the summer of 2022.
How it happened: Forces pushing U.S. output up include ...
High oil prices in recent years provided an incentive to drill more.
Producers at prolific U.S. shale basins are improving efficiency and drilling horizontal wells up to three miles long.
Saudi Arabia and allied producers have held back some production as OPEC looks to prop up prices, leaving a market opening.
Investment and permitting decisions that date back several years — "even as far back as the Bush and Obama administrations for offshore development," the American Petroleum Institute's Megan Bloomgren said.
🔎 Between the lines: The record drilling — and how to talk about it — has squeezed President Biden between young climate activists and persistent GOP attacks on his energy record.
Biden has remained relatively silent about U.S. oil strength. But he does like promoting lower gas prices, which this supply increase helps enable.
Some moderate Democrats want Biden to openly take credit for record production.
Josh Freed, who runs the climate and energy program at the center-left think tank Third Way, told Axios: "Gas prices have been high — and the Biden administration has done a huge amount to lower them, including upping drilling in the U.S."
The intrigue: Biden's GOP and industry critics say the records come despite White House policies they call a drag on U.S. companies.
Biden's critics want less regulation and stronger support for drilling on federal lands.
Much of the oil and gas boom has unfolded on private or state lands, including the Texas side of the prolific Permian Basin.
🛢️ What's next: Production is expected to grow next year, but at a slower pace, according to estimates from the federal Energy Information Administration that are frequently revised.
The agency's latest outlook sees U.S. crude output averaging roughly 13.2 million barrels per day next year, roughly the same as current levels and up around 2% from this year's average.
