U.S. oil output from seven major shale formations is expected to decline by about 46,000 bbl/d in April to about 7.46 MMbbl/d, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said in a monthly forecast on March 15.

Output at nearly every formation is expected to fall. The biggest declines are expected from the Eagle Ford and Niobrara basins, where production is expected to drop by about 15,000 bbl/d in each basin compared with March, the data showed.

Output from the Permian Basin, the top producing basin in the country, is expected to rise for a second straight month in April, climbing by about 11,000 bbl/d to 4.3 MMbbl/d.

The agency in February estimated output from the Permian would drop in March but in the latest month revised its estimate to an increase of about 376,260 bbl/d, the biggest increase on record.

Oil producers in the U.S. have begun to slowly add drilling rigs as prices rebound, but tepid demand recovery and investor pressure to reduce debt has kept companies from rushing to drill new wells.

Production in the Bakken of North Dakota and Montana is expected to decline by about 12,000 bbl/d to 1.1 MMbbl/d, the lowest since July.

Natural gas production from the seven major shale basins is expected to decline about 0.3 Bcf/d to 82.6 Bcf/d in April, according to EIA’s drilling productivity report.

Onshore