US oil output set to reach record high

The country's production has surged this year and is showing no signs of a slowdown

US oil output has flourished in 2017 and is set to reach a record high next year. Total US crude production will rise by 0.6m barrels per day next year, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA), reaching 9.9m b/d. This would exceed the 1970 record of 9.6m b/d. This year output is expected to average 9.3m b/d, up from 8.9m b/d in 2016. US natural gas production is also expected to rise by 3.1bn cubic feet per day in 2018, up from the 2017 average of 73.3bn cf/d. Next year's increase will be triple the 1bn cf/d growth rate in natural gas production of last year, according to EIA data. By December 2018, US oil output is expected to surge to 10.1 m b/d—a 0.9m b/d rise from June 2