US oil production could hit 14 ml bpd

HOUSTON, Aug. 7 (Xinhua): Technological advances will allow energy firms to pump more crude out of oil plays and drive US oil production to as high as 14 million barrels per day in 2016, an oil company executive said yesterday.

Scott Sheffield, CEO of Pioneer Natural Resources, an Irving,

Texas-based exploration and production company, made the remarks

at an energy conference in Denver, Colorado.

According to figures from the Energy Information Administration (EIA), the US Department of Energy's statistical arm, the country's current oil output is around 8 million barrels per day. Government forecasters expect the number to peak around 9.5 million barrels per day in 2016.

Sheffield warned, however, the only factor that can stop oil production from rising is a price collapse.

The United States has seen an energy boom since 2007 when technologies such as hydraulic fracking and horizontal wells were widely put into use in unconventional shale plays.

On an aggregate supply-demand basis, the country is rapidly approaching a self- sufficiency rate of 90 per cent. As its shale production outpaces domestic demand, the country is expected to shift from a net importer to a net exporter by 2020.