A Peek at Peak Oil? EIA Sees U.S. Reserves Drop 2022-23

July 17, 2025--Written by Paul Wiseman for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas--Falling and/or uncertain oil prices led to a decline in proved crude oil and natural gas reserves between 2022 and 2023, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). Still, since the start of the shale revolution, reserves of both have been on a general upswing--crude oil since bottoming out at about 20 billion barrels in 2009, and natural gas since hitting about 180 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) of wet gas around 2000. For 2023, U.S. proved reserves of crude and lease condensate came in at 46 billion barrels, a 4% drop from the record high set in 2022. And "U.S. proved reserves of natural gas fell to 604 trillion cubic feet, a 13% decline from their 2022 record. Both declines marked the first annual decrease in U.S. proved reserves for those fuels since 2020."