According to the Energy Information Administration (EIA), global crude oil prices were on average US$7/bbl lower than in 2018, averaging US$64/bbl from the Brent crude oil (international benchmark) and US$57/bbl for the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil (US benchmark) in 2019. Global crude oil prices evolved within narrower price ranges in 2019 - between US$55/bbl and US$75/bbl for Brent and between US$47/bbl and US$66/bbl for WTI - compared with recent years.
This price moderation is related to the continued increase in the US production of crude oil and other liquids, which is estimated to reach a record level of 19.6 mb/d in 2019, its highest level ever. Crude oil production in the United States should average 12.3 mb/d in 2019. This higher US production may have limited the effects on prices of the attack on Saudi Arabia oil installations in September 2019, announced production cuts from the OPEC in December 2019 and US sanctions on Iran and Venezuela. Crude oil production declined in these two countries, as in Saudi Arabia. Overall, the US EIA expects that total OPEC production declined by 6.9% from 32 mb/d in 2018 to 29.8 mb/d in 2019.
The higher US production is also expected to reduce US net imports of crude oil and petroleum products from 2.3 mb/d in 2018 to 490 kb/d in 2019. In September and October 2019, the United States was a net exporter of crude oil and products for the first time since at least 1973.