If the decline in oil demand around the world continues to push the oil prices down, US oil industry production will shrink from 13 million barrels per day to 7 million barrels over the next 18 months, S&P Global Platts warned.

“Texas produces more than 5 million barrels of crude oil per day, which is more than 40% of total US production. And without action, US oil production could drop from about 13 million barrels per day to 7 million barrels per day over the next 18 months”, writes the CEOs of the largest Permian oil producers in the Permian Pioneer Natural Resources and Parsley Energy.

Pioneer and Parsley formally requested an emergency hearing on Monday to enforce mandatory crude oil production quotas in Texas.

Texas producers ask Texas Railroad Commission (TRC) to use measures that have not been in place for nearly 50 years to deal with the “virtually unprecedented” global crisis in oil demand triggered by the coronavirus pandemic and compounded by the health crisis price war between Russia and Saudi Arabia.

TRC Commissioner Ryan Sitton said Monday that he would ask for an urgent virtual meeting to be held next week to prevent the matter from being delayed for months. “Failure to act now could result in a collapse in much of the US energy sector”, he warned. “About 90% of the people I talk to say we definitely need to look into this”, said Ryan Sitton.

The idea is that Texas can act, as discussions with the White House are underway with both Saudi Arabia and Russia to reach a global agreement on production regulation to help balance the market, threatening to lose over 20 million barrels per day in demand. US President Donald Trump discussed a potential oil deal on Monday with Russian President Vladimir Putin, both agreeing to continue dialogue with their energy ministers.