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U.S. crude oil output fell in December for first time in 5 months

U.S. crude oil output fell to 12.78 million barrels per day in December from 12.86 million bpd in November, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said in a monthly report.

U.S. crude production has soared due to technological advances for production from shale formations. Despite the decline in December, weekly production data from the EIA suggests that crude output has risen in January and February, setting a fresh record of 13 million bpd.

The oil output decline in December came as output in the Gulf of Mexico fell 47,000 bpd and North Dakota production dropped by 40,000 bpd, according to a separate EIA monthly publication, known as the 914 report. with state data released by the EIA Friday. Texas, the top shale producer, saw output rise by 32,000 in the month.

Gasoline demand in December fell from a year earlier, according to the report. Demand dropped about 2.5% to 8.945 million bpd. This was a steeper decline than the 1% year-on-year drop seen in November.

Demand for distillate fuel, which includes diesel and heating oil, fell 3% from the previous year to 3.901 million bpd, compared with a 0.4 percent decline seen in November.

Monthly gross natural gas production in the U.S. Lower 48 states, meanwhile, slipped to 106.8 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) in December from a record 107.2 bcfd in November, according to the EIA’s 914 report.

That 0.4-bcfd decline in Lower 48 gas production was the first decline in seven months.

In Texas, the biggest gas producing state, output increased 0.6% to 29.4 bcfd in December. The state’s monthly all-time high was 29.6 bcfd in October 2019.

In Pennsylvania, the second-biggest gas-producing state, output fell 1.9% to 19.5 bcfd in December, down from a record high 19.9 bcfd in November.
Source: Reuters (Reporting By Jessica Resnick-Ault; Editing by David Gregorio and Diane Craft)

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