Texas oil production set to top No. 2 OPEC country

HOUSTON — Texas now is pumping 36 percent of the nation’s oil, more than doubling its production in three years, according to new federal data.

The Energy Information Administration reports that Texas oil production topped 3 million barrels per day in April, for the first time since the late 1970s.

Nearly as much crude flowed from Texas as from Iraq, which was the second largest OPEC producer in April at about 3.2 million barrels per day, according to Bloomberg. The news agency estimates that Iraq’s production fell to 2.9 million barrels in June amid insurgent violence. That would drop it below Texas if the state’s supply continued to rise, as it did every month since 2011.

North Dakota’s crude production has grown even faster, jumping 185 percent over the three years ending April 2014. That month, North Dakota pumped more than 1 million barrels per day for the first time ever.

Together, Texas and North Dakota supplied nearly half of the nation’s domestic crude in April.

In total, the United States pumped 8.4 million barrels per day that month. Excluding Texas and North Dakota, oil production in all other states combined grew just 10 percent, according to EIA data.

Meanwhile, despite the resurgence of oil and gas activity in the Gulf of Mexico, that region’s share of the U.S. crude supply has declined to 17 percent, from 27 percent in 2010, the EIA noted.

This chart shows total oil production in North Dakota and Texas versus all other states since January 1981, in thousands of barrels per day:

From: FuelFix