Oil: Saudis Are Cutting? Well, U.S. Is Producing More and More

investing.com:

Of all the news that caught the interest of oil traders this week, the one that really hit home was probably the EIA’s revelation that U.S. crude production had reached three-year highs — for a second week in a row.

It was quite astounding that the Energy Information Administration would say that, when the number of rigs drilling for oil in the country had tumbled double-digits this year. 

​​From a 2023 high of 623 on Jan 13, the U.S. oil rig count had dwindled to just 520 as of Aug 18 — down 15%. 

Even so, the EIA estimated domestic crude production at 12.7 million barrels per day for the week ended Aug 11, overwriting its previous daily projection of 12.6M during the prior week to Aug 4.

Before these back-to-back weeks, the agency had never projected such a high number for U.S. oil production, which it had maintained at between 12M and 12.2M barrels per day over the past year, since output began recovering from the 9.7M low seen in the aftermath of the coronavirus outbreak. Production was at a record high of 13.1M barrels daily in March 2020, just as the pandemic was setting in.

The oil output estimate contained in the EIA’s Weekly Petroleum Status Report isn’t the only one by the agency that gives an idea of what the world’s largest driller of the commodity is doing in terms of output. Those following the oil market must also stay on top of the Drilling Productivity Report (obliquely known as the DPR) and the Short-Term Energy Outlook (or STEO) to get a holistic picture of what’s going on.

According to the latest issue of the DPR on Aug 14, output in the Permian, the largest shale oil producing basin in the United States, is projected to be at 5.799M barrels per day in  September, down 13,000 from August. That decline