(Reuters) – U.S. crude oil production is expected to fall by 160,000 barrels per day (bpd) in 2021 to 11.15 million bpd, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said on Tuesday, a smaller decline than its previous monthly forecast for a 290,000-bpd drop.
The agency said it expects U.S. petroleum and other liquid fuel consumption to rise 1.41 million bpd to 19.53 million bpd in 2021, the same increase as its previous forecast.
Oil prices have rebounded from the lows touched in 2020 Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies, a group known as OPEC+, agreed this month not to increase supply in April as they await a more substantial recovery in demand amid the coronavirus pandemic.
U.S. rig counts have begun to climb as crude prices rebound, with oil rigs rising by one to 310 last week, their highest since May, energy services firm Baker Hughes Co said. [RIG/U]
The EIA estimated that U.S. crude oil production averaged 10.4 million bpd in February, which is down 500,000 bpd from estimated January production. Most of the decline reflects the cold temperatures that affected much of the country, particularly Texas, the EIA said.
As COVID-19 vaccines are rolled out worldwide, the demand outlook is also improving, boosting oil prices.
The EIA forecast that global consumption of petroleum and liquid fuels will average 97.5 million bpd for all of 2021, which is up by 5.3 million bpd from 2020. The agency forecasts that consumption will increase by another 3.8 million bpd in 2022 to average 101.3 million bpd.
(Reporting by Scott DiSavino and Devika Krishna Kumar in New York, Editing by Franklin Paul and Marguerita Choy)
