USA ‘squeezes’ its oil wells to the limit

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New technologies allow the world’s largest oil producer to have greater extraction efficiency. And an additional advantage at a time of rising prices. COP 28? Which COP 28?

Since the most recent COP summits, Saudi Arabia and the so-called Arab petro-monarchies are commonly considered lacking in terms of the energy transition that recommends that fossil fuels be replaced by renewable alternatives. But the big ‘pervaricators’ are in fact the United States: the country set a new oil production record.

The US Energy Information Administration, better known as EIA, revealed that the world’s largest economy exceeded 13.3 million barrels (mdb) per day of average production during the month of December, a level never reached until now. However, the most impressive thing about the record, says the same source cited by several newspapers, is that the North American oil industry managed to reach this level by drilling less and making the most of each oil well.

Thus, it is the increase in productivity that explains the record, which in any case does not erase the increase in the ecological footprint nor does it set the industry back on the path to sustainability. The most recent Petroleum Supply Monthly (PSM) report says that crude oil production in the United States has risen to record levels since 2010 and has grown even faster in recent months.

The explanation – beyond demand, which appears to be positioning itself for the expected interest rate drops that the Federal Reserve will determine (probably) within a few months – is that oil producers are taking advantage of relatively high prices. in international markets. Brent oil, a reference in Europe, is already trading above 83 dollars a barrel and West Texas oil, a reference in the USA, is above 79 dollars.

World leaders in crude oil production since 2018, surpassing Russia and Saudi Arabia, producers have resorted to technology – and not new drilling – to boost their production. “US production already accounts for 16% of global crude oil production,” says the EIA – which places Russia and Saudi Arabia in second and third positions.

Historically, the number of new wells brought in by drilling activity has been the main determinant in predicting whether crude oil production has increased or decreased. However, advances in horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing (fracking) technologies have increased well productivity, allowing U.S. producers to extract more crude oil from newly drilled wells.

The Drilling Productivity Report (DPR) shows increased production from a combination of increased pumping into new wells and increased sustained production from wells that were already open – the word ‘sustained’ is certainly about financial issues rather than climate issues.

The number of new wells has been different from year to year for the past decade – after reaching a record 13,745 in 2014. Activity has slowly declined since then, until collapsing in the pandemic crisis. The number of new wells fell by almost 40% (4,829 wells) in 2020 due to the impact of Covid. In 2022, the number of new crude oil wells was the same as in 2017. Already in the first half of 2023, drillers slightly increased the number of new wells (624) compared to the same period in 2022.