U.S. OIL OUTPUT HITS NEW RECORD
U.S. crude oil production jumped 215,000 barrels per day to 10.47 million bpd in March, the highest on record, the Energy Information Administration said in a monthly report Thursday, Reuters reports. Output in Texas rose by four per cent to almost 4.2 million bpd, a record high based on the data going back to 2005. The Permian basin, which stretches across West Texas and eastern New Mexico, is the largest U.S. oilfield. Output from North Dakota held around 1.2 million bpd, while output in the federal Gulf of Mexico declined 1.1 per cent to 1.7 million bpd. The agency also revised February oil production down by 5,000 bpd to 10.26 million bpd, Reuters said. U.S. crude oil output rose above 10 million bpd late last year for the first time since the 1970s, overtaking top oil exporter Saudi Arabia, but it still lags behind top producer Russia, which pumps just below 11 million bpd.