The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) is distorting oil prices by being far too optimistic in its forecasts for U.S. production, the chief executive of Continental Resources, Harold Hamm, said.
Hamm blames EIA for both the outright decline in U.S. oil prices and their underperformance compared with Brent since June.
Brent crude futures fell 1.8% to $55.77 a barrel, U.S. WTI crude futures were trading at $50.61, down 2.05%.
Hamm faults EIA for being too optimistic about U.S. production, creating an impression there will be surplus of crude and depressing futures prices for WTI, Reuters reported.
EIA currently forecasts U.S. crude production will climb to 9.69 million barrels per day by December while DEPA predicts output will total no more than 9.35 million bpd.
