Crude oil prices continued their steady decline in Thursday trading after a U.S. administrator said total domestic oil production should increase short-term.

West Texas Intermediate, the U.S. benchmark, shed more than $1 early Thursday to trade at $76.18 for the December contract.

Crude oil prices have lost more than 20 percent of their value since June. Higher oil production in the United States means one of the world's leading economy is relying less on the foreign market to meet its energy demands.

In an October address on the nation's economy, President Barack Obama said the country is producing more than it imports for the first time in nearly two decades.

A report from the International Energy Agency said U.S. oil production gains should level off at some point in the 2020s, after which Middle East producers will again take the dominant market role.

Adam Sieminksi, director of the U.S. Energy Information Administration, said Wednesday lower crude oil prices may curb drilling activity in some of shale basins, but net oil production should continue to increase because oil prices are high enough to support most drilling programs.

"Continued growth in global oil supply in the face of weak oil demand will push crude prices lower in the near-term," he said in remarks sent to UPI. "The average price for Brent crude oil is expected to be about $18 a barrel lower next year than previously forecast."

Brent, the global benchmark, lost more than $1 during the morning to trade at $79.15, moving below the $80 threshold for the first time this year.