[Editor's note: This story was updated at 3:22 p.m. April 30.]
U.S. crude oil production fell 187,000 barrels per day (bbl/d) in February to 11.7 million bbl/d as output dropped in the Gulf of Mexico (GoM) and key onshore oil-producing states including Oklahoma and North Dakota, according to U.S. government data on April 30.
The production decline was the second consecutive slip, following a fall in January, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) data.
Rising output to record levels due to increased production from onshore shale formations and an uptick in the GoM has made the U.S. the top global oil producer and has shifted global trade flows of crude. As a result, monthly production is closely watched.
Crude output in the GoM dropped 9.8% from a month earlier to 1.7 million bbl/d, the EIA said in its monthly 914 production report. Production fell 4.6% to 1.3 million bbl/d in North Dakota and 1.1% to 573,000 bbl/d in Oklahoma.
The losses were not offset by slight production increases in Texas and New Mexico where the Permian Basin, the largest U.S. oil field, is located. Output in Texas, the largest-producing state, rose 1.3% to 4.8 million bbl/d, while in New Mexico, it rose 3.2% to 843,000 bbl/d.
The EIA also revised down its estimate for oil production in January by 1,000 bbl/d to 11.87 million bbl/d.
Total U.S. demand for oil in February rose 2.9%, or 575,000 bbl/d, year-on-year, to 20.2 million bbl/d, driven by strong consumption for gasoline and distillates, EIA data showed. Demand in January had been relatively unchanged from the previous year.
Gasoline demand in February was up 1.7%, or 146,000 bbl/d, year-over-year to nearly 9 million bbl/d, while consumption of distillates, which includes heating oil and diesel, soared 9.3%, or 369,000 bbl/d, from a year ago to 4.331 million bbl/d.
Meanwhile, monthly gross natural gas production in the Lower 48 U.S. states rose to a record high 99 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) in February after declining to 98 Bcf/d in January, according to the report.
The decline in January 2019 was the first monthly decrease since January 2018.
In Texas, the nation's largest gas producer, output increased 2.5% in the month to a record high 26.5 Bcf/d in February. That compares with 22.4 Bcf/d in February 2018.
In Pennsylvania, the second-biggest gas-producing state where companies are active in the Marcellus and Utica shale plays, production also rose to a record high of 18.6 Bcf/d in February, up 0.2% from January. That compares with output of 16.5 Bcf/d a year ago.
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