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(NAFB) – Amid talks of climate change and a future of electric vehicles, a recent forecast suggests 2023 U.S. oil production will surpass the 2019 record.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration released the forecast this week, predicting U.S. oil production will average 12.4 million barrels per day in 2023.

EIA Acting Administrator Steve Nalley says, “We expect global demand for petroleum products to return to and surpass pre-pandemic levels this year, but crude oil production grows at a faster rate in our forecasts.”

The forecast predicts U.S. crude oil production will increase for nine consecutive quarters, from the fourth quarter of 2021 through 2023. EIA also expects OPEC to increase its crude oil production to 28.9 million barrels per day in 2023, up from an average of 26.3 million barrels per day in 2021. EIA forecasts that U.S. commercial crude oil inventories will reach 465 million barrels at the end of 2023, about 11 percent more than the end of 2021.