US shale production set to reach new highs in July
US shale oil production is expected to hit record levels in July, authorities have said, as domestic production continues to weigh on international prices.
The output from the country’s seven major shale formations is expected to rise by 70,000 barrels per day.
Read more: Oil prices fall for second day as US-China trade war bites
It will push up production to 8.52m barrels per day, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said in its monthly report.
The biggest change is in the Permian basin, which stretches across Texas and New Mexico. Output there will rise by 55,000 barrels to more than 4.2 barrels per day in July.
It is the basin which houses oil giant Anadarko, which was recently snapped by Occidental for $38bn.
Oil markets have grappled with downward pressure on prices over the past six months. The drop, which has been largely driven by the increase in US shale, even caused oil producing cartel Opec to slash its output.
The cartel’s 1.2m barrels per day output cut seemed to have the desired effect in the first few months of the year.
Read more: How at tiny waterway worries international oil traders
However prices started faltering again towards the end of April. Today Brent crude, the international standard, dropped 0.84 per cent to $60.43.
Natural gas production in the US is set to hit a record 81.4bn cubic feet today next month, the EIA also said. It follows 17 months of consecutive increases.