U.S. crude oil production holding steady

U.S. crude oil production for the week ending Feb. 20 held steady amid rig count reductions and planned cuts in upstream spending, federal data show.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration in a weekly status update said total oil production for the week ending Feb. 20 was 9.29 million barrels per day, relatively unchanged from the previous week but nearly 15 percent higher than the same week in 2014.

Total production in the Lower 48 was 8.78 million bpd, unchanged from the previous week. Production from Alaska increased 1 percent from last week to 501,000 bpd.

Total imports of 5.1 million bpd for the week was nearly 6 percent less year-on-year. Canada remains the top crude oil exporter to the U.S. market, sending around 3.1 million bpd across the border. That level is 30 percent less than the same time last year.

The trends develop at a time when a weak crude oil market is forcing energy companies to cut spending on exploration and production. Oil services company Baker Hughes said the number of rigs actively exploring for or producing oil and natural gas in the United States for the week ending Feb. 20 was down 48 from the previous week and 461, or 26 percent, lower year-on-year.

The Canadian rig count was down 43 percent year-on-year.

EIA said in a short-term market report released mid-February that U.S. oil production should average 9.3 million barrels per day in 2015 and 9.5 million bpd in 2016. If forecasts are accurate, the 2016 level would be close to the all-time high of 9.6 million bpd reached in 1970.