US crude oil output fell slightly in October to 13.248 million barrels per day, the first monthly decline since April, the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) said on Friday, reports Reuters.
Analysts have been expecting a slowdown in US oil output after it set monthly records in August and September. Falling U.S. output could help ease some oversupply concerns that have weighed on crude prices in recent months.
However, the small magnitude of that decline -- just 4,000 barrels per day (bpd) -- likely shows that US production might still have room to grow.
"Those who have been preaching for months that US shale production has peaked are in for another surprise: Crude production increased in all tight plays except in North Dakota," Anas Alhajji, an energy market expert based in Dallas, wrote on Friday.
North Dakota, the third-largest oil-producing U.S. state, saw its crude output fall 2.4 per cent to 1.27 million bpd in October, the first monthly decline since March.
Output from the Federal Offshore Gulf of Mexico region fell 2 per cent in October, EIA data showed. However, most other major production hubs saw output improve.
Top oil-producing state Texas saw output rise by 0.4 per cent to a record high of 5.61 million bpd in October, EIA said. Output in neighboring New Mexico rose 0.8 per cent in October to 1.84 million bpd.
The EIA on Tuesday revised its estimates of total U.S. oil output in September to 13.252 million bpd from 13.236 million bpd reported last month.
Gross natural gas production in the U.S. Lower 48 states was virtually unchanged at 116.63 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) in October, compared to the record high 116.71 bcfd in September, according to EIA's monthly 914 production report.
In top gas-producing states, output hit a new record for the fourth straight month in Texas in October, climbing 0.1 per cent to 34.67 bcfd.
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