WASHINGTON, Feb. 11 (UPI) -- North America should account for the bulk of the increase in oil production from countries outside OPEC, the U.S. Energy Department said Tuesday.
The Energy Information Administration, the analytical division of the Energy Department, released its monthly market report Tuesday.
It said global oil supplies should increase by 1.7 million barrels per day this year and another 1.5 million barrels per day in 2015, with most of the growth coming from countries outside the 12-member Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.
"The Americas, in particular the United States, Canada, and Brazil, will account for much of this growth," the report said.
Combined, production gains from the United States and Canada should be an annual average of 1.2 million bpd in 2014 and 2015. EIA said Brazil's oil production should increase by an average 150,000 bpd during the next two years as explorers tap into oil fields located off its coast.
EIA said OPEC production should decline by 400,000 bpd in 2014 and another 300,000 bpd in 2015 to make room for non-OPEC oil supply growth.
On the demand side, China should drive any consumption growth through 2015 as its economy continues to expand. EIA said, however, an increase Chinese oil consumption, along with the pace at which its economy grows, is expected to slow.
