NEW YORK: US crude oil production rose 286,000 barrels per day in September to 10.86 million bpd, as production increased in North Dakota and in offshore waters in the US Gulf of Mexico. Oil production rose 61,000 bpd in North Dakota and 315,000 bpd in the offshore Gulf of Mexico, offsetting cuts in Texas, where output fell 60,000 bpd.

Production rebounded slightly at a time when many analysts had expected it to fall. Still, output remained below the post-pandemic high of 10.97 million bpd, reported in July.

Low demand has weighed on the market during the coronavirus pandemic, even as production has risen from lows seen in the spring. US gasoline demand was down 6.8%, or 624,000 bpd, from a year earlier at 8.545 million bpd. Demand for diesel and other distillate fuel fell 2.5%, or 97,000 bpd, from a year earlier at 3.818 million bpd. Monthly gross natural gas production in the US Lower 48 states, meanwhile, slipped 0.9% to 99.9 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) in September.

That was the first monthly decline in Lower 48 output since May. Current gas output remains well below December 2019's record 107.1-bcfd average due to steep, coronavirus-related declines earlier in the year. In top gas producing states, output fell 1.9% in Texas to 27.7 bcfd and 4.5% in Pennsylvania 19.4 bcfd in September.