US shale oil output fell be a monthly record 811,000 b/d in May. The month’s average 7.94mn b/d output from seven key shale basins was some 1.10mn b/d down on March and 1.22mn b/d below last November’s record 9.16mn b/d (see chart 1). Provisional data in the EIA’s latest Drilling Productivity Report, released 15 June, indicate further falls to 7.73mn b/d for June and 7.63mn b/d for July.

As for overall US crude output, the latest provisional weekly figure for the week ending 12 June is 10.5mn b/d. This is lower than every monthly average figure since May 2018, down 2.2mn b/d from March, and almost 2.4mn b/d from last November’s 12.87mn b/d monthly record. (CONTINUED - 1085 WORDS)