The 2020 crisis put an abrupt end to the growth in U.S. crude oil production, which had just hit 13 million barrels per day (bpd) before oil prices and demand collapsed with the spread of the pandemic. Between March and May 2020, U.S. oil production plunged by over 2.5 million bpd as companies slashed spending on drilling and curtailed output in response to the low oil prices. In May, U.S. oil production hit 10 million bpd —its lowest monthly level since late 2017. After the trough in May, oil output in the United States has been gradually growing as producers restore curtailed volumes and oil prices recover part of the losses from earlier in 2020, due to encouraging news about vaccines, which gave the market hopes that the long-awaited oil demand recovery was finally in sight. EIA estimates point to U.S. oil production staying at around 11 million bpd […]