The American Petroleum Institute (API) released its monthly statistical report on Thursday, revealing the highest-ever production of U.S. crude oil and natural gas liquids in June.
During that month, production of crude oil hit 10.7 million barrels per day (mb/d), and production of natural gas liquids hit 4.2 million barrels per day, according to API.
“Record production of U.S. crude oil and natural gas liquids last month highlighted the strength of our nation’s energy renaissance,” Dean Foreman, API chief economist, said in the announcement of the report. “U.S. oil production has supplied all of the growth in global oil demand so far this year and helped compensate for production losses in some OPEC nations.”
“With continued increases in drilling activity, the U.S. is poised for further production increases in natural gas and oil,” Foreman said.
API has opposed President Donald Trump’s tariffs agenda, reiterated by Foreman’s remarks in the announcement.
“Unfortunately, increasing tariffs on steel and other components that are vital to our industry’s infrastructure and operations have emerged as a key challenge,” Foreman said, adding that the oil and gas trade association needs steel and other products for developing energy production infrastructure.
But Breitbart News reported when Trump announced putting in place tariffs on steel and aluminum in March that they are designed to protect U.S. steel producers and bolster national security:
Actions by the administration mark the conclusion of a process that began last year when the president ordered the Commerce Department to examine the impact on national security of steel and aluminum imports. That inquiry called a Section 232 investigation after of the portion of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 where it is authorized, concluded earlier this year with a recommendation that the administration impose sanctions to protect the industries.
Some other highlights from API’s June 2018 statistical report include:
•U.S. petroleum demand year-to-date at its strongest since 2007.
•Domestic refineries ran at their highest percent capacity utilization rate in June (96.6 percent) since 2005.
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•Solid economic and energy market fundamentals also underpinned the strongest U.S. petroleum demand since 2007, at 20.6 mb/d.
The oil and natural gas industry supports 10.3 million U.S. jobs, according to API.
