HOUSTON, April 11 (Xinhua) -- U.S. crude oil production in the Federal Gulf of Mexico (GOM) reached the highest annual level in 2017 and is expected to continue increasing in 2018 and 2019, according to the projection of the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) published on Tuesday.

U.S. crude oil production in the GOM reached 1.65 million barrels per day (b/d), the highest annual level on record. Although briefly hindered by platform outages and pipeline issues in December 2017, oil production in the GOM is expected to continue increasing in 2018 and 2019, based on forecasts in the EIA's latest Short-Term Energy Outlook.

EIA also expected the GOM crude oil production to account for 16 percent of total U.S. crude oil production in 2018 and 2019.

Based on the EIA report, annual crude oil production in the GOM will increase to an average of 1.7 million b/d in 2018 and 1.8 million b/d in 2019. However, uncertainties in oil markets may affect long-term planning and operations in the GOM, and the timelines of future projects may change accordingly.

According to its analysis, recent crude oil price increases have not yet had a significant effect on operations in the GOM, but they have the potential to contribute to increasing rig counts and field discovery in the coming years. Unlike onshore operations, falling rig counts do not affect current production levels, but instead affect the discovery of future projects and fields.

In March 2018, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management held a lease sale for more than 14,000 Federal Gulf of Mexico blocks, most of which did not receive any bids. Although the results of this auction will not affect short-term forecast of GOM production through 2019, the level of interest for leases may have longer-term implications for GOM crude oil production.