Continental contrasts
Oil and gas production in North America is continuing its rising trend. Mexico's prospects are looking up, while Venezuela's hydrocarbon sector is collapsing
North American liquid hydrocarbons output hit 20.1m barrels a day in 2017, as production from the US and Canada offset a decline in Mexico, according to the latest BP Statistical Review of World Energy. US oil output is expected to continue to rise. The US Energy Information Administration expects oil production to grow by 1.4m b/d this year, and another 1m b/d in 2019. It also suggests natural gas output will increase by 10%, to 81.2bn cubic feet a day. As such, the US looks set to remain the world's largest oil and gas producer in 2018. Such production growth is presenting challenges to the US and its neighbours in the Americas. On the domestic front, new infrastructure is urgently needed
Also in this section
10 March 2026
By shutting the Strait of Hormuz, Iran has cut exports of distillate-rich Middle Eastern crude, jet fuel and diesel, and is holding the energy market hostage
10 March 2026
Eni’s director for global gas and LNG portfolio, Cristian Signoretto, discusses how demand will respond to rising LNG supply, and how the company is expanding its own gas and LNG operations through disciplined, capital-efficient investments
9 March 2026
Petroleum Economist analysis sees increases in output from Saudi Arabia, Venezuela and Kazakhstan among others before region’s murky descent
9 March 2026
Energy sanctions are becoming an increasingly prominent tool of US foreign policy, with the country’s growth in oil and gas production allowing it to impose pressure on rivals without jeopardising its own energy security or that of its allies, argues Matthew McManus, a visiting fellow at the National Center for Energy Analytics
