OPEC cuts fuel US production growth

US oil production is rising and a backlog of uncompleted wells raises the risk of further price weakness later in the year. (Stockvault)

Rising production in the United States is proving to be a headache for oil prices. US crude oil production increased to 9.1 million barrels per day (MMb/d) in early March; this was up by 680,000 b/d from the 2016 low point of 8.4 MMb/d, reached in July, when low oil prices took their toll on domestic shale production. This has neutralised the impact of OPEC production cuts agreed in November 2016, which were due to take effect in January with supporting cuts by a group...