Oil production in Texas in 2018 set a record, reaching levels not seen in nearly 46 years.
The Texas Independent Producers Royalty Owners association reported that oil wells in the state produced more than 1.54 billion barrels of crude in 2018. It blew away the previous record of 1.28 billion barrels set in 1973 when the Arab oil embargo was implemented. The 2017 production was 1.26 billion barrels of oil and just missed tying the mark.
As the Report suggest, if Texas were a country, it would be the world’s third largest oil producer behind only Russia and Saudi Arabia. Most of the state’s oil production is driven by the Permian Basin which also extends into southeast New Mexico. The basin is nearly 250 miles wide and 300 miles long.
Record-breaking U.S. oil production is expected to continue for decades, driven largely by the Permian Basin, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said in its Annual Energy Outlook two weeks ago. In the outlook’s reference case, the EIA forecasts U.S. oil output, which averaged 10.93 million b/d in 2018, to climb to nearly 15 million b/d by 2027 before flattening out and falling below 12 million b/d by 2050. Shale production in the Lower 48 states will account for nearly 70 percent of domestic production over the next three decades, according to the report. The majority of the growth will take place in the Permian, according to Meg Coleman, leader of EIA’s exploration and production team.