Perhaps temporary anomalies are to blame for the third week of declining continental US oil production. The volume declines are not substantial, but they interrupt what was a sharp two-month growth trend that saw output rise from 8.45 million BOPD to 8.8.
This week's decline of 20 thousand barrels per day came on the heels of a 10K and a 1K decline in daily output for the month of December. Rising rig counts belie the onset of a longer trend, but the potential for other short term confounding effects (winter weather, year end, holidays) may mean that a return to growth (or not) may not be apparent for a few weeks more.
