The U.S. managed to beat out the Saudis and Russia as the world’s top oil and natural gas producer last year, despite low prices and a persistent supply glut challenging the industry, according to the federal government.
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“U.S. petroleum and natural gas production first surpassed Russia in 2012, and the United States has been the world’s top producer of natural gas since 2011 and the world’s top producer of petroleum hydrocarbons since 2013,” the Energy Information Administration, the Energy Department’s independent analysis arm, reported Monday.
U.S. and Russia production is almost split evenly between oil and natural gas output, while Saudi Arabia relies heavily on petroleum production, the agency said.
In the U.S., petroleum supply rose by 1.0 million barrels a day last year, despite relatively cheap crude oil prices and a 60 percent in the number of operating oil and natural gas rigs, the Energy Information Administration said. Natural gas production rose by 3.7 billion cubic feet per day, with almost all of that increase coming in the eastern U.S.
Russia managed to increase its output of oil in 2015, but natural gas production declined due to poor economic conditions and a mild winter that reduced demand for gas for heating, according to the agency.
Saudi Arabia kept production high despite the downturn in global demand and lower prices, which many believe was a ploy to push U.S. shale producers out of the market. Most of the U.S. gains in oil and gas production are due to the use of fracking, which can be much more expensive than the conventional drilling used in Saudi Arabia. Cheap prices have prompted U.S. frackers to shut down rigs and lay off thousands of workers.
But EIA’s data shows the plan more than likely backfired for the Mideast oil giant.
Although Saudi oil and gas output increased 3 percent, the U.S. “produced more than twice the petroleum and natural gas hydrocarbons as Saudi Arabia produced in 2015,” it said.
