HOUSTON, Feb. 18 (UPI) -- Despite the slump in crude oil prices, production from two premier basins in the United States increased by a combined 33 percent, a forecast from Platts finds.

Oil prices dropped more than 50 percent from June to January, leaving energy companies without the revenue stream necessary to continue robust exploration and production operations in 2015.


Bentek Energy, a forecasting unit of Platts, finds oil production in Texas and North Dakota, the No. 1 and No. 2 producers in the nation, respectively, increased.

For the Eagle Ford basin in southern Texas, Bentek found production in January was 1.6 million barrels per day, a 37 percent increase year-on-year.

"Rig count in the Eagle Ford dropped by 33 rigs since the beginning of the year, while production managed to increase slightly," Catherine Bernardo, Bentek Energy manager of energy analysis, said in a Tuesday report e-mailed to UPI.

Rig count is a reflection of the number of rigs actively exploring for or producing oil and natural gas. In North Dakota, the 135 active drilling rigs as of Wednesday marked a 35 percent decline from the historic peak reached in 2012.

The decline in rig activity has yet to translate to a drop in oil production. Bentek found January crude oil production from the Bakken reserve area in North Dakota was 1.2 million bpd in January, a 28 percent increase from the same month in 2014.