Five states produce bulk of U.S. oil

WASHINGTON, March 15 (UPI) -- Oil production from five U.S. states accounted for more than 50 percent of the oil produced in the United States last year, the U.S. Energy Department said.

The U.S. Energy Department's Energy Information Administration reports that Alaska, California, North Dakota, Oklahoma and Texas accounted for roughly 56 percent of crude oil production in the United States last year.

Oil production from the Eagle Ford shale formation in southern Texas was reported at 1.4 million barrels per day, the highest level since 1997. Production in Oklahoma, meanwhile, topped 200,000 bpd for the first time since 1998.

Despite its contribution to the oil mix in the United States, Alaskan oil production declined for the ninth consecutive year to 563,000 bpd, the EIA said.

The White House this week said domestic oil production in the United States, on average, has increased every year since President Barack Obama took office in 2009.

Obama's critics, however, said much of the increase is because of policies enacted by the previous administration.

"The president likes to boast that American oil production has risen but that is due to production increases on private and state lands," the Republican-controlled House Energy and Commerce Committee said in a statement. "Production on federally controlled lands actually declined from 2010 to 2011 by 14 percent."