US shale oil output to drop in August: EIA

OREANDA-NEWS. July 25, 2016. Crude output from major shale formations is forecast to drop by nearly 100,000 b/d to 4.55mn b/d in August, continuing a downward trend, the EIA says. Production will fall in most of the seven formations covered in the EIA's Drilling Productivity Report, including the Permian, Bakken, Eagle Ford and Niobrara.

Permian output is forecast to drop by only 6,000 b/d to 1.97mn b/d in August, propped up by the area's lower extraction costs. Eagle Ford production is expected to fall by 48,000 b/d to 1.08mn b/d, Bakken by 32,000 b/d to 966,000 b/d, Niobrara by 12,000 b/d to 371,000 b/d and Haynesville by 1,000 b/d to 46,000 b/d.

The seven regions covered by the EIA's report accounted for 92pc of US crude production growth in 2011-14. US crude output is forecast to fall to 8.6mn b/d in 2016 from 9.4mn b/d last year, the EIA says.