The EIA just revised down its forecast for U.S. oil production growth for 2018, an acknowledgement that pipeline constraints are slowing output gains in the Permian basin. The EIA believes the U.S. will average 10.68 million barrels per day (mb/d) this year, down 0.11 mb/d from last month’s estimate. It also revised down its forecast for next year’s average output to 11.7 mb/d, down from 11.8 mb/d previously. The downward revision comes after recently released data from the agency suggested that output growth during this past spring was not as robust as previously thought. The EIA, at the time, thought shale production continued to grow at a blistering rate, with production rising by over 200,000 bpd between the beginning of April and the end of May. But more recent data suggests that production actually dipped a bit over that period. It may seem like an insignificant revision, but it […]