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New Report Predicts Record Breaking U.S. Oil Production

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(Photosource: Jean Beaufort.)

By Mitch Borden 

The federal government's energy outlook for 2019 looks to be pretty positive for oil producers in West Texas. It is predicting the country will continue to see recording-breaking oil production.

By next year, the Energy Information Administration, or EIA, predicts America will export more oil than it imports.

"The key driver of that increase is coming from the Permian Basin," said Matt Smith with Clipper Data, a group that tracks oil and gas movement.

The federal outlook sees the U.S. producing more than 14 million barrels by the mid-2020s and stated America will stay above this benchmark for decades. That’s good news for Permian producers -- even with West Texas Intermediate only going for about $50 a barrel.

According to Smith, “Even though we are seeing oil prices drop here there’s still the expectation that production will continue to increase.”

Smith believes the report makes the future look bright for the Permian Basin and its economy.

Mitch Borden is Permian Basin Reporter & Producer at Marfa Public Radio.