Yemisi Izuora/Agency Report
The US oil industry pumped less crude than initially estimated this year, according to new government data that offered the clearest look yet at the impact of drillers’ retrenchment in response to collapsing prices.
The downward supply revisions were “unambiguously” bullish for a global market awash with oil, said Credit Suisse global energy economist Jan Stuart, suggesting the oft-cited resilience of US shale producers to lower crude prices might have been overstated.
Oil prices surged by as much as $3 a barrel on Monday, with some traders citing the new data.
The Energy Information Administration, EIA, said its new survey-based output data showed the United States pumped a hair below 9.3 million barrels per day, bpd, in June, down by 100,000 bpd from a revised May figure, according to information published by Rigzone.
The June figure was also nearly 250,000 bpd below what the EIA had estimated a few weeks ago, highlighting the steep reversal in output as a five-year boom sours and suggesting to some analysts that a global glut might ease sooner than expected.
“If the downward trend in US production continues, global markets should return to balance by early 2016,” said veteran energy economist Philip K. Verleger.
The EIA revised production data for the first five months of the year, based on an expanded monthly survey of operators that includes crude oil and lease condensate for the first time. As a result, output in the months of February, March and May was 80,000 bpd to 125,000 bpd lower than previously reported, according to a detailed breakdown.