US Oil Output Hits Record 10.47 Mln BPD in March

U.S. crude oil production jumped 215,000 barrels per day (bpd) to 10.47 million bpd in March, the highest on record, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said in a monthly report on Thursday.

Production in Texas rose by 4 percent 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 percent to 1.7 million bpd.

The agency also revised February oil production down by 5,000 bpd to 10.26 million bpd.

U.S. natural gas production in the lower 48 states rose to an all-time high of 88.8 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) in March, up from the prior record of 87.7 bcfd in February, according to EIA's 914 production report.

Output in Texas, the nation's largest gas producer, increased 1.3 percent in March to 22.7 bcfd, the most since April 2016.

In Pennsylvania, the second biggest gas producing state, production dipped to 16.4 bcfd in March, down 0.6 percent from February's record high of 16.5 bcfd. That compares with output of 14.8 bcfd in March 2017.

(Reporting by Scott DiSavino Editing by Marguerita Choy)