The winter storm in the U.S. reportedly caused a daily oil production decrease of 2 million barrels

According to a report by Reuters, U.S. oil producers experienced a reduction in daily oil production by as much as 2 million barrels, or 15% of the national output, due to the impact of a winter storm on energy infrastructure and the power grid over the weekend.

Consulting firm Energy Aspects estimates that the storm caused a decrease of 2 million barrels in U.S. oil production last Saturday (24th), with the Permian Basin accounting for a reduction of approximately 1.5 million barrels per day. As of yesterday (26th), there were still 700,000 barrels per day of production offline in that basin, which is expected to fully resume by Friday (30th).

Reports indicate that ConocoPhillips (COP.US) saw a reduction of 175,000 barrels in oil production from the Permian Basin on Sunday (25th), while Chevron (CVX.US) disclosed that Texas oil well heads remained open due to freezing conditions. Exxon Mobil (XOM.US) reported frequent shutdowns of gas compressors at several of its oil fields, affecting crude oil production. Companies such as Occidental Petroleum (OXY.US) and Targa Resources (TRGP.US) reported failures at Texas gas processing plants and compression stations.

The North Dakota Pipeline Authority stated that as of yesterday morning (26th), crude oil production in North Dakota, the third-largest oil-producing state in the U.S., is estimated to have decreased by about 80,000 to 110,000 barrels per day, with associated gas production estimated to have decreased by 240 million to 330 million cubic feet per day. According to LSEG data, due to producers shutting down capacity, the average natural gas production in the U.S. 48 states fell to 10.69 billion cubic feet per day this month, below the monthly record of 10.97 billion cubic feet set last month