US shale production to set new record in December of nearly 8 million barrels a day

Reuters:

U.S. crude oil output from seven major shale basins was expected to hit a record of 7.94 million barrels per day (bpd) in December, according to a monthly government forecast released on Tuesday.

The total oil output from the basins was expected to rise 113,000 bpd, driven largely by increases in the Permian Basin of Texas and New Mexico, where output was forecast to climb by 63,000 bpd to about 3.7 million bpd in December, the U.S. Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration (EIA) said.

Output was also expected to rise in each of the other basins, except for the Haynesville, where it would remain unchanged at 43,000 bpd.

U.S. natural gas production, meanwhile, was projected to increase to a record 75.1 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) in December. That would be up more than 1.0 bcfd over the November forecast and would be the 11th monthly increase in a row.
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There are also a total of 8,545 wells that have been drilled but are awaiting completion.  This is likely because of a lack of pipeline access to get the oil to market.  When that infrastructure is complete in the next year the US will see an even greater increase in production.  It could be enough to make the US energy independent of refineries switch over to the light crude from the shale wells.

The biggest impediment to infrastructure buildout comes from Obama appointed judges who seem to be in the pocket of the keep it in the ground left making nonsensical arguments against pipelines which are a much safer method of transporting oil than alternatives of rail or trucks.