For the first time in 45 years, the United States is the world's largest oil producer.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said Wednesday that America surpassed Russia between June and August in terms of oil production after passing Saudi Arabia earlier in 2018.
If those estimates hold up, it will be the first time since 1973 that the U.S. has led the world in oil production.
U.S. production has risen in recent years because of techniques that include hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking," which is the use of chemicals, sand, water and high pressure to crack rock formations deep in the earth, releasing oil and natural gas in the process.
The EIA estimates that the United States produced an average of 10.9 million barrels of oil a day in August, compared with about 10.8 million barrels a day by Russia and 10.4 million from Saudi Arabia. It said the U.S. passed Saudi Arabia in February of this year and this summer it topped Russia.
The agency’s forecasts see the U.S. continuing to top Russia and Saudi Arabia for the rest of this year and through 2019. U.S. oil production has soared since 2011, led by output from the Permian Basin, North Dakota and the Gulf of Mexico.
Oil production has also been relatively steady in Russia and Saudi Arabia, both of which took part in an agreement with the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries to limit output beginning in 2016 to drive up prices globally. The U.S. agency said its data on Russian oil production comes mainly from the Russian Ministry of Oil but also oil companies and industry data. The agency said figures on Saudi output are based on its own internal estimates.
The U.S. consistently led the world in oil production for much of the last century until the Soviet Union and Saudi Arabia passed it during the 1970s. Until the last few years, it seemed unlikely that the U.S. would regain the top spot in oil production.
The EIA and the International Energy Agency, a global group of oil-consuming nations, had predicted that the U.S. could possibly surpass Russia and Saudi Arabia but not until the second half of 2019 or into 2020.
