US crude output fell by 2.4pc in April: EIA

OREANDA-NEWS. July 01, 2016. US crude output fell by 2.4 pc in April compared to the previous month, in a continuing downward trend, according to new US Energy Information Administration (EIA) data.

Output in April fell to about 8.9mn b/d, led by declines in major producing states including Texas and North Dakota.

Output in Texas, the top producing state, fell by 1.4pc to 3.23mn b/d.

Production in North Dakota, home of the Bakken shale, moved lower by 6pc to 1.04mn b/d in April, according to the EIA data, which is based on a methodology which includes a direct survey of oil producers in 15 states.

State officials in North Dakota on 15 June reported a similar drop of 6.3pc in April, the largest monthly decline in the state's history. North Dakota's crude output will likely fall below 1mn b/d before the end of this year, sooner than previously expected, state officials said.

Production fell in most states, but New Mexico bucked the trend. Output in that state moved higher by 0.7pc to 411,000 b/d.

Federal offshore Gulf of Mexico crude production fell by 3pc in April to about 1.59mn b/d. That total marks a 3.5pc increase from a year earlier.

The lower US production follows a sharp drop in drilling. The US rig count last week fell by 3 to 421, snapping three weeks of modest gains. This compares to 859 rigs a year earlier, according to data from Baker Hughes.

About 52pc of the crude output in the Lower 48 states in April was light oil with an API gravity above 40°, the EIA said.

Nearly all of the growth in US output in recent years comes from formations that produce light crude including the Eagle Ford in south Texas, the Permian basin in west Texas and southeastern New Mexico, and the Bakken.