U.S. Oil Production Still 2 Million Bpd Under Pre-Pandemic Levels

The EIA might be forecasting that the Permian Basin’s oil production will be rebounding soon, but overall, today’s U.S. oil production is still 2 million barrels per day below the levels seen in January 2020. The EIA’s Monthly Drilling Productivity Report is forecasting that for the nation’s most prolific basin, the Permian, production will return to 4.

466 million barrels per day in May. That compares to 3.918 million bpd in May 2020—but that was hardly prior to the pandemic. In January 2020, the Permian basin’s…