The Eagle Ford boom is nothing new to our readers, but it is good to pause and take inventory every now and again. Did you know, if Texas continues on the same growth trajectory, the state will rank as the eighth largest oil producing country in the world. We're not a country, but we're close and Texas is on track to pass Iraq, Kuwait, and Mexico in 2014. Texas produced 2.75 million b/d in October 2013, which is the highest rate in more than 30 years.
As a whole, the U.S. is doing very well and could become the largest oil producing country in the world if the current boom is extended. The U.S. produced 7.75 million b/d in October 2013, which is the highest total in more than 25 years.
The IEA noted that U.S. oil production grew faster in absolute terms in 2013 than any other country in over two decades. The final numbers aren't quite in, but it looks like the U.S. grew production more than 15% or ~1 million b/d in 2013.
Oil Production Growth Will Challenge the Oil Export Ban
More production will put additional pressure on the oil export ban in the U.S. The Gulf Coast in particular has more capacity to refine heavy crude oil, but the Eagle Ford and other growing plays are yielding a higher quality light-sweet crude oil. That means there could be opportunities where exporting our high quality crude and importing cheaper heavy crude could make economic sense.
There are some who believe we should keep all of the oil at home, but that might come at a cost. It will be interesting to see what happens later in 2014. If we have another year like 2013 in terms of oil production growth across the U.S., it will be difficult not to make some exceptions to the oil export ban.