HOUSTON, March 23 (Xinhua) -- U.S. crude oil production averaged 11.6 million barrels per day (b/d) during the week ending March 18, unchanged from the previous week, U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said Wednesday.

       However, the figure rose by 600,000 b/d this time last year, according to the EIA.

       An EIA report issued earlier this month forecasted that the country's crude oil production would rise to average 12.0 million b/d in 2022 and then to record-high production on an annual-average basis of 13.0 million b/d in 2023.

       The previous annual average record of 12.3 million b/d was set in 2019, the report said.

       More than 80 percent of U.S. crude oil production growth comes from the country's Lower 48 states, which does not include production from Alaska and the Federal Offshore Gulf of Mexico, said the report.

       The United States has been a major oil producer in the past years with the help of its shale oil production.