While total oil production was down, Marion County remained the number two oil producing county in Illinois in 2022.
The figures tabulated by the Illinois Petroleum Resource Board show the county produced 737,458 barrels of oil in the past year, down 14,000 barrels from last year.
The Executive Director of the Board Seth Whitehead doesn’t expect the downturn to last.
“Last year obviously oil prices rebounded very strongly but still a huge labor shortage in the industry. Rig crew for new and service wells across the board, truck drivers, welders and electricians all those different professions having a real hard time finding people. So I think that is a big factor in home production.”
As far as what he is looking towards in 2023.
“I think there is a lot of oil yet to be found. Not just in Marion County but the state as a whole. Looking at demand this year reaching an all time high in the world especially if China returns to the demand before the pandemic which many are predicting. I think we are going to see really strong demand and of course supply has been constrained so that should keep incentive to work the older wells and drill new ones and get production up. But it will all depend on if there are folks available to make that happen.”
Whitehead says there is still a lot of oil in the ground in Marion County that can be recovered. He doesn’t anticipate the push towards electric vehicles to decrease the demand for oil
“Lot of challenges mainly from the supply chain of electric vehicles. Basically the minerals needed for the battery are going to be very high priced and short supplied. And there is also especially for rural drivers, the range issues, and prices that will keep a lot of folks from buying them.”
Statewide, oil production totaled 7,227,842 barrels in 2022, a 2.3-percent decline from the prior year.
Whitehead says White County was once again the highest producing county with just over two-million gallons of oil production. Fayette County is the fourth highest producing county with 415,000 barrels of oil. In other area counties, Clay County had 234,564 barrels, Wayne County 265,094 barrels, Jefferson County 245,873 barrels, Clinton County 79,330 barrels, and Washington County 94,266 barrels.
