U.S. crude production climbed to the highest level in more than 29 years last week as the shale boom moved the country closer to energy independence.
Output rose 0.9% to 8.95 million barrels a day, the most since June 1985, according to Energy Information Administration estimates. The combination of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, has unlocked supplies from shale formations in the central U.S., including the Bakken in North Dakota and the Eagle Ford in Texas.
Production gains helped bolster U.S. inventories by 8.92 million barrels to 370.6 million barrels in the week ended Oct. 10, according to the EIA report.
U.S. crude production will rise to an average 8.54 million barrels a day this year, up from 7.45 million last year, the EIA said in its monthly Short-Term Energy Outlook on Oct. 7. Output is projected to climb 11% to 9.5 million barrels a day in 2015, the most since 1970.
West Texas Intermediate crude for December delivery slipped 94 cents, or 1.2% , to $80.84 a barrel at 11:13 a.m. Oct. 16 on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It touched $79.78, the lowest since June 29, 2012.
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