Oil Production From US Federal Leases Hits Record In 2017

Oil production from U.S. federal lands and waters rose 7% last year to the highest in at least a decade, while natural gas output slipped, according to soon-to-be-published U.S. data—a partial win for the Trump administration as it tries to fire up energy production on public land.

Crude oil output from federal leases averaged about 2.22 million barrels per day (bbl/d) during the 2017 fiscal year, the highest since at least 2007, and up from 2.07 million bbl/d during the 2016 fiscal year, according to the data from the Department of Interior’s Office of Natural Resources Revenue (ONRR) provided to Reuters.

That increase came as total U.S. oil production, including output from private lands, rose 5% in the 2017 calendar year to 9.3 million bbl/d, near the highest since the 1970s, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.