U.S. energy production continues to grow. As America produces more of its own oil and natural gas our trade deficit shrinks, while our energy security expands. We also get a better idea of just how much oil and natural gas exists within the territorial boundaries of the United States.
Thanks to growth in U.S. and Canadian oil production the global price for crude oil has leveled out and become less volatile, dropping an average of $3 per barrel from 2012 to 2013 according to the Energy Information Administration. This means prices at the pump have been more stable and less prone to price spikes from unrest in Iraq and other areas in the Middle East.
Top 3 U.S. Oilfields
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Permian Basin-
Centered in far west Texas and New Mexico, the Permian Basin has seen oil drilling for decades. But for the last 20 years, everyone thought the field was “played out.” Until fracking and horizontal drilling came along a few years ago to revitalize a once-dead oilfield. The Permian Basin now produces 1.6 million barrels of oil per day. It holds an estimated 50 billion barrels of oil, the second largest in the world.
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Eagle Ford Shale-
A relatively new oilfield, the Eagle Ford only produces oil thanks to fracking. Stretching in an arc of south Texas from Austin to Laredo, the Eagle Ford produces over 1.4 million barrels per day and also holds more than 20 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.
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Bakken Shale-
Located in North Dakota, the Bakken is the nation’s fastest growing oilfield. Production went from about 200,000 barrels of oil per day in 2005 to over 1.1 million barrels per day in July. The Bakken has lead to dramatic growth in North Dakota, allowing the state to capture the title for the fastest employment growth in the nation.
These three oilfields, combined with production in the Wattenberg Field in Colorado, Prudhoe Bay in Alaska, and offshore oil production in the Gulf of Mexico all combine to put total American oil production at over 8.4 million barrels of oil per day. The U.S. recently overtook Russia and Saudi Arabia as the world’s largest oil producer thanks to our large oilfields and world-class production.
