U.S. crude-oil production grew by more than one million barrels a day last year, the largest increase in the world and the biggest in U.S. history. Crude production in the U.S. jumped 14 percent to 8.9 million barrels a day according to an annual report by BP released Wednesday, The Wall Street Journal reported. The supplies are mainly flowing from oil fields between North Dakota and south Texas that have been tapped using new types of technology. On the back of the news, the price of oil fell toward $95 a barrel Thursday, The Associated Press reported. But the surge of U.S. oil output is expected to have only a modest impact on global prices in the short term, partially due to restrictions on oil exports, the Journal reported. Still, as the U.S. continues to develop pipelines and refineries to boost its production, future output could have a bigger effect on driving down prices. "Growth in U.S. shale-oil production could have the most significant long-term impact on oil prices of any supply event in recent decades," the investment company PIMCO reported earlier this year. The North American oil boom contrasts with developments in other-oil producing countries that have seen steep declines due to aging oil fields and political strife. Iran's production fell 16 percent last year, the largest drop among major producers, caused by tough sanctions imposed by the West over its nuclear program. In 2012, the U.S. was the third-largest global crude producer behind Saudi Arabia and Russia, according to the Journal.

Source