Gushing oil: Permian Basin still leads U.S.

PERMIAN BASIN – The Permian’s production has increased by 93,000 barrels per day year-over-year, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. The area is still the largest oil producer in the United States.

Production in the basin has increased steadily in recent years, hitting the 1 million-barrels-per-day point in 2011. It is projected to reach 1.3 million barrels of oil per day in October 2013.

The Eagle Ford reached the 1 million-barrels-per-day point in August 2013 and is projected to reach 1.1 million barrels per day in October 2013.

Several Houston companies have assets in the top plays. Occidental Permian Ltd. had the most production in the Permian for the first six months of 2013, with 20 million barrels.

The Bakken in North Dakota and the Eagle Ford in south Texas together account for 75 percent of current monthly oil production growth across the six regions the agency is tracking. Those regions include the Niobrara in Colorado and Wyoming, the Haynesville in east Texas and west Louisiana, and the Marcellus basin in Pennsylvania.

All together, the six basins represent almost 90 percent of domestic oil production and most domestic natural gas production growth in the past two years.