The United States outpaced every other nation in crude oil production in 2025 by a margin that widened further from the previous year, according to new international data released by the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
Crude oil production in the United States, including lease condensate, averaged a record-high 13.6 million barrels per day (b/d) in 2025, breaking the previous U.S. and global production record of 13.2 million b/d set in 2024.
An eight-year streak extended
The United States remained the world’s largest crude oil producer in 2025, according to the EIA’s International Energy Statistics database, extending a streak that began in 2018 when the United States overtook Russia to become the world’s leading producer.
The agency published its full international comparison on July 9, 2026, placing the findings in the context of the broader shale era.
On average, U.S. crude oil production in 2025 was approximately 40 percent higher than that of the world’s next two largest producers, Russia and Saudi Arabia.
Russia produced 9.89 million b/d of crude oil, including lease condensate, in 2025, down by a small amount from a year earlier; a combination of voluntary production cuts and the effects of the conflict with Ukraine constrained output growth.
Saudi Arabia produced 9.56 million b/d of crude oil, including lease condensate, in 2025, up by 3.5 percent.
The difference between the United States and other major producers widened in 2025, with Russian output slightly lower and Saudi Arabia recording modest growth as a result of OPEC+ unwinding voluntary production cuts.
Permian Basin drives the gains
Production growth was particularly strong in the Permian Basin of Texas and New Mexico, which recorded a 4 percent increase in crude oil output, from 6.3 million b/d in 2024 to 6.6 million b/d in 2025, accounting for approximately 48 percent of total U.S. production.
U.S. crude oil production has been buoyed by continued gains in drilling productivity and operational efficiency across key shale basins, which allow operators to extract more oil per well. The EIA noted that output growth continued even as active rig counts and new wells drilled in the Lower 48 states declined from 2024 levels.
The growth in output continued in 2025 despite lower oil prices, with West Texas Intermediate (WTI) prices dropping from an average of $77 per barrel in 2024 to $65 per barrel in 2025 amid global oversupply.
Five new Gulf of America projects, Whale, Ballymore, Dover, Shenandoah, and Leon-Castile, also came online in 2025, adding offshore barrels to the overall record.
The shale revolution in historical context
Shale oil and gas development in the United States became notable when in 2008 it reversed a multi-decade decline in U.S. crude oil production, and U.S. crude oil production powered by shale development has turned the United States into not just the world’s largest producer, but the largest producer of crude oil ever.
The scale of that transformation is visible in the 250-year sweep of U.S. energy history the EIA charted earlier this year, which traced how domestic output evolved from wood fires through the modern shale era.
Parallel to the growth in crude oil production, U.S. associated natural gas production has also surged, driven by activity in oil-dominant plays like the Permian, supporting domestic natural gas-fired electricity generation and growing natural gas exports.
In 2024, the most recent year for which data are available, the United States was also the world’s largest natural gas producer.
Output growth expected to continue
The EIA’s July 9 Today in Energy report forecast U.S. crude oil production will remain near 13.7 million b/d in 2026, before increasing to 14.2 million b/d in 2027, based on its Short-Term Energy Outlook.
That projected trajectory has already reshaped the country’s energy trade position; petroleum exports reached an all-time high in early 2025, reflecting how domestic production surplus flows into global markets.
The EIA noted that the sustained output growth, achieved with fewer active rigs and wells than in prior years, underscores how productivity improvements in shale basins have fundamentally altered the economics of American oil production.
