HOUSTON, March 30 (Xinhua) -- U.S. crude oil production in January reached 9.964 million barrels per day, almost the same level as that in December 2017, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said Friday.

According to EIA's Monthly Crude Oil and Natural Gas Production, the production in December 2017 was 9.958 million barrels per day, and the daily average in 2017 was 9.318 million barrels.

The peak production was in November 2017, with 10.066 million barrels per day.

In January, EIA forecast that U.S. crude production would soar to a record high this year before rising even more in 2019.

EIA said on Jan. 9 in its monthly Short-Term Energy Outlook that the crude production would average 10.85 million barrels per day next year and 10.27 million barrels this year, both surpassing the previous record of 9.6 million barrels per day pumped in 1970.

Production will top 11 million barrels per day in November 2019, according to the estimate.

The growth of North American shale production, which caused an estimated 5 percent increase in U.S. crude output in 2017, has rocked the oil industry in the past few years, spurring OPEC and other traditional producers to cut output to trim global inventories.

EIA increased its estimates for global production and demand in 2018. Production is seen at 100.34 million barrels per day, up from 100.01 million previously, with demand at 100.11 million, compared with 99.96 million.