Rystad Energy has predicted that US oil production could hit an all-time high of 10 million barrels per day before the end of 2017.
The Norwegian research firm claims that this will undermine Opec production cuts which aim to prop up crude prices.
Rystad Energy’s vice president of oil markets Bjørnar Tonhaugen said: “US oil production has grown faster at 50 USD than any analysts in the market predicted.
“As these numbers are getting confirmed, the initial optimism about OPEC’s temporary cuts, may turn to increasing skepticism about OPEC’s choice of policy once the current output deal expires next year.”
The firm’s annual report credited shale drilling and growth from the Gulf of Mexico deepwater fields with offsetting declines from other US conventional oilfields.
The record of 10 million barrels per day was reached in 1970, when US oil prices were below $3 per barrel.
The record was last close to being surpassed in April when production peaked at 9.6 million barrels.
The most recent official data showed that 9.1 million barrels per day were produced in March this year.
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