EIA expects US oil production to rise in 2015

Houston

EVEN with oil prices continuing to plummet and oil companies decommissioning drilling rigs every day, the Energy Department on Tuesday projected that domestic crude production would continue to rise in 2015, although growth would slow.

The forecast of even more American supplies on an oversupplied global market was not unexpected, but it added to the probability that oil prices that have plummeted by around 55 per cent since June will not completely recover any time soon.

But the department projected a modest recovery for the Brent global oil price benchmark, now around US$46 a barrel, which it said would average US$58 a barrel this year but rebound to US$75 in 2016.

On Tuesday, both oil prices tumbled sharply, but later came off their lows. The American benchmark closed down 39 US cents at US$45.89, after falling as much as 4 per cent, while Brent fell as much, but also recovered, to US$46.59, coming off a…