The collapse of the rig count and depressed drilling activity has already knocked about 700,000 barrels per day of oil production offline. • But the rig count could bottom out this year and begin climbing again. However, the EIA doesn’t expect oil production to rise in the short run even if the rig count rebounds. Oil production is expected to continue to fall through 2017 as too few new wells come online to replace rapidly falling shale output. • Total U.S. oil production is expected to fall from 9.43 mb/d in 2015 to 8.04 mb/d in 2017, a figure that includes rising output from […]