U.S. oil output from seven major shale formations is expected to rise for a third straight month, climbing by about 13,000 barrels per day (bpd) in May to 7.61 million bpd, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said on Monday.
The biggest increase is set to come from the Permian, the top-producing basin in the country, where output is expected to rise by 52,000 bpd to about 4.47 million bpd, the highest since April 2020, the EIA said in a monthly forecast.
Output from other top producing basins such as the Bakken and Eagle Ford are expected to slide by 12,000 bpd and 9,000 bpd, respectively. Production in the Bakken basin of North Dakota and Montana is expected to drop to 1.1 million bpd, the lowest since July 2020, according to the data.
Oil producers in the United States have begun to slowly add drilling rigs as prices rebound, but tepid demand recovery and investor pressure to reduce debt have kept companies from rushing to increase production.