The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) revealed in its January Short-Term Energy Outlook that it sees Brent crude oil spot prices averaging $65 per barrel in 2020, rising to $68 per barrel in 2021.
It also estimated that the US produced an average of 12.2mn barrels per day (mbpd) of crude oil in 2019, up 1.3mbpd from the previous year. It forecasts US production at 13.3mbpd in 2020, with an increase to 13.7mbpd in the following year.
In 2019, US net crude and petroleum product imports dropped sharply to 500,000bpd, compared to 2.3mbpd in 2018.
While it will not stop imports, the US is expected to be a net exporter of total crude oil and petroleum products by a margin of 0.8mbpd in 2020, and 1.4mbpd in 2021.