US oil production on track for record high: Chart of the Day

US oil production is on the path to reach record highs in 2023, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA), while active domestic oil rigs decline this year. Yahoo Finance Live comments on the Biden administration's stance on domestic oil production as President Biden opts out of attending the COP 28 climate conference in Dubai.

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This post was written by Luke Carberry Mogan.

Video Transcript

AKIKO FUJITA: It is now time for today's chart of the day.

US oil and gas production is on track to hit record levels this year and remain elevated for decades.

According to the EIA, that record production conflicting with the president's push to prioritize tackling climate change.

The uptick in production can be attributed to an industry-wide boost in efficiency, but the number of active rigs in the country has actually declined in 2023, according to data from Baker Hughes.

Now, this comes ahead of that COP28 climate summit over in Dubai.

President Biden will not be attending.

Later this week, the US delegation will call for a phase out of fossil fuels.

And this is why Rachelle, this chart is getting so much attention.

Yes, the president has talked about at a time when he's been criticized from the oil and gas companies that he has overseen sort of record production there.

But, you know, he's not only skipping the conference this time after attending two years in a row or two conferences in a row.

He's also part of a country that's calling out for a phase out.

And this data that we're pointing to runs counter to that very call.

RACHELLE AKUFFO: It really does and as we look at some of the data in here, I mean, according to a report from Climate Transparency within this report, the US government expects this pace that we're seeing in oil and gas activity to continue at near record levels until 2050.

And that scientists actually say, that's the point that some of these heating emissions are needed to be eliminated to avoid a catastrophic climate breakdown.

And a third of this expansion in oil and gas is going to occur in the US.

Now, obviously, we're coming into an election year.

But we know that this has been a priority for the Biden administration.

So to see this divergence here and what we're seeing in terms of the oil and gas activity, it's going to be a hard sell for those who really want to see more climate action from President Biden.

AKIKO FUJITA: Yeah, it points to that tricky dance the administration or tricky line, I should say, the administration has to toe.

On the one hand calling for major climate action, on the other hand, saying this transition is going to take a while.

Fossil fuels are still necessary.