[Donger]

U.S. crude production climbed above 9 million barrels a day last week for the first time in at least 31 years because of the shale boom.

Output rose 1 percent to 9.06 million barrels a day, the most since at least January 1983, when the weekly data series from the Energy Information Administration begins. The EIA has monthly data going back to 1920 and that shows production is at the highest level since February 1986.

The combination of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, has unlocked supplies from shale formations in the central U.S., including the Bakken in North Dakota and the Eagle Ford in Texas.

U.S. crude production will rise to an average of 8.57 million barrels a day this year, up from 7.46 million last year, the EIA said in its monthly Short-Term Energy Outlook yesterday. Output is projected to climb 9.9 percent to 9.42 million barrels a day in 2015, the most since 1972.

West Texas Intermediate crude for December delivery dropped $1.62, or 2.1 percent, to $75.56 a barrel at 11:22 a.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Futures touched $75.26 today, the lowest level since Oct. 4, 2011.