Oil production figures depend on who's reporting them

global crude oil plus condensate (C+C) production reported by the Energy Information Agency of Washington (EIA) had begun to diverge from same data reported by the Joint Oil Data Initiative (JODI) to the point that EIA data was now about 3.8 million barrels per day (mmbpd) higher than JODI. EIA data show strongly growing global oil production reaching new peaks in excess of those reached in 2005 and 2008, whilst JODI data do not and are more consistent with a continuation of the bumpy plateau reached in 2006. Why is this important? There are a number of issues at stake. First, the EIA data give the impression that high price has fed into an increase in global production capacity whilst the JODI data do not. The EIA data give the impression of strong growth in the global economy feeding into higher demand for and production of oil whilst the JODI data do not. Finally the cause of the divergence raises questions about reporting standards and why these should vary. It is this last point that is the focus of this post.