Around 18 percent of U.S. oil production has been taken offline by the frigid arctic blast sitting on key energy producing states, according to a report from Bloomberg News.
Citing unnamed oil traders and company executives, Bloomberg reported that U.S. production has fallen by more than two million barrels.
The executives told Bloomberg that the production losses were the most severe in the Permian Basin, a region straddling West Texas and New Mexico that is the biggest source for U.S. oil. Output cuts were also reported to be significant in the Anadarko basin in Oklahoma and Eagle Ford, in souther Texas.
A big part of the problem is that the equipment used in Texas to extract oil is not suited for extreme cold, unlike equipment used in North Dakota. Some wells have been closed, above ground flow-lines have become frozen, and road transportation of oil has become hazardous.
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