World Oil staff
While U.S. drilling showed a a 4.1% drop in activity during 2025, production continued to achieve small-but-steady gains on an annual basis. Total U.S. production climbed to 13.59 MMbopd in 2025, representing a 2.7% increase from 2024’s 13.23 MMbopd. Once again, the rise in activity can be attributed to technology gains that improved output of new wells. Another factor was a large number of DUC wells completed in 2025, similar to 2024. Meanwhile, WTI prices started 2025 at $75.74/bbl—their highest level—before gradually falling over the course of the year, ending at $57.97/bbl in December.
CRUDE AND CONDENSATE RESULTS
As noted earlier, U.S. production increases continued into 2025, with notable gains from a number of states. What follows are some regional summaries.
Permian basin/south-central U.S. In this region, New Mexico chalked up the biggest gain on both a percentage and actual barrels basis. The state rose 10.8% to 2.2 MMbopd (+218,500 bopd). Louisiana, which includes the bulk of U.S. Gulf output, was up 4.4% to 1.7 MMbopd (+73,179 bopd). and Texas up 1.2% to 5.96 MMbopd (+71,288 bopd). These gains were driven partially by reductions in DUCs during 2025 (the count reduced 14.3%), thanks to DUC completions in Texas and New Mexico. As of December 2025, the total DUC count across major U.S. regions was approximately 5,020 to 5,049 wells.
Mid-continent. Among the country’s four largest producers, only North Dakota posted a loss, losing 2.1% to 1.17 MMbopd (-24,500 bopd). The state’s number of DUCs fell 19.3%. This was partially offset by Oklahoma, which gained 0.8%, to average 402,700 bopd. However, Kansas slipped 0.9%, to an average 74,724 bopd.
Northeast. In this gas-prone region, there is still noticeable oil production. Ohio showed the greatest change among states in this area, rising 39.3% from 2024’s figure, to 139,700 bopd. West Virgina also added a nice gain, rising to 40,200 bopd, or 16.3%, from 2024’s figure.
Rocky Mountains. Colorado and Wyoming saw little change, rising slightly to 467,400 bopd (+0.4%) and 292,923 bopd (+0.4%), respectively. However, Utah saw gains up to 186,100 bopd, a 1.6% increase from 2024 production.
West Coast. Alaska led average daily production activity on the West Coast, rising 1.8% to 428,869 bopd. It was substantially higher than 2024’s 0.1% gain. California saw continued losses, falling 12.5% to 271,500 bopd. It will be interesting to see whether the incentives for greater drilling passed in the state assembly last year will halt the output slide in 2026. WO