06/10/2014 Total US crude oil production in 2015 will reach its highest level since 1972, the US Energy Information Administration forecasts in its Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO) released June 10. Production, which averaged 7.4 million b/d in 2013, is expected to average 8.4 million b/d in 2014 and 9.3 million b/d in 2015. Additionally, EIA estimates that US total crude production during May averaged nearly 8.4 million b/d—the highest monthly average production since March 1988. With the Atlantic hurricane season commencing June 1, EIA believes production will be minimally disrupted, relying on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s prediction that the Atlantic Basin will likely experience near normal or below-normal tropical weather through Nov. 30. Mean estimates of shut-in production by EIA in the federal Gulf of Mexico during that period total 12 million bbl of crude oil and 30 bcf of natural gas. During last year’s hurricane season—the […]