Illinois crude oil production totaled 7,397,119 barrels in 2021, according to data compiled by the Illinois Petroleum Resources Board (IPRB) that is based on first-purchaser reports. Click here to download IPRB’s annual Illinois oil production report.

The state’s 2021 production was slightly below 2020 levels (7,513,835), as extreme cold weather in February and labor shortages throughout the year were factors in production remaining 1.5 percent below last year’s levels despite a strong rebound in oil prices following the demand-driven crash brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Several counties did see increased production compared to 2020 levels, most notably Franklin County, which saw its production jump 19 percent to 309,484 barrels. Crawford County saw the second-largest year-over-year increase (+23,600 barrels), while Macon, Jefferson, Christian, Clay, Richland and Clinton counties also saw significant production increases compared to 2020.

White County remained by far Illinois’ top producing county, totaling 2,166,099 barrels of production in 2021, representing better than 29 percent of the state’s overall production.

White County surpassed 2 million barrels of production for the third straight year and its annual production has more than doubled from levels seen just a decade ago.

The state’s top-15 producing counties – White, Marion, Crawford, Fayette, Lawrence, Wabash, Franklin, Clay, Wayne, Clark, Richland, Hamilton, Jasper, Jefferson and Gallatin – collectively produced 90.5 percent of the state’s oil in 2021. All 15 of those counties – as well as Edwards, Brown and Effingham counties – have recently passed Resolutions of Support for the Illinois oil production industry.