US shale oil production is expected to increase by a mere 1,000 b/d from March to April, according to the Energy Information Administration’s Drilling Productivity Report (DPR), signifying a slowdown in growth caused by reduced company budgets and a shrinking rig count.
Total oil output from the most prolific shale areas in the Lower 48—the Bakken, Eagle Ford, Haynesville, Marcellus, Niobrara, Permian, and Utica—will remain virtually unchanged at 5.6 million b/d in April.
The DPR focuses on those seven plays, which accounted for 95% of US oil production increases and all US natural gas production increases during 2011-13.
April growth will be pushed down by declines of 10,000 b/d in the Eagle Ford to 1.7 million b/d, 8,000 b/d in the Bakken to 1.3 million b/d, and 5,000 b/d in the Niobrara to 413,000 b/d. Production from the Permian, meanwhile, will expand 21,000 b/d to nearly 2 million b/d.
