US oil output climbs toward level not seen since pandemic’s start

Higher prices are buoying drillers’ confidence: Benchmark Nymex oil gained nearly 35 percent in the past four months after OPEC and its alliance cut production to strike a balance between demand and supply. The Permian Basin, the U.S.’s most prolific shale patch, will produce crude oil at levels not seen since the start of the pandemic in the latest sign the global economy is heating back up. Benchmark Nymex oil gained nearly 35% in the past four months after OPEC and its alliance cut production to strike a balance between demand and supply. By comparison, production peaked at over 13 million barrels a day last year before the global pandemic crushed oil prices, forcing scores of drillers to file for bankruptcy and shutter wells.