U.S. oil production fell in November to the lowest since July, while oil demand fell to the lowest since April, data from the Energy Information Administration showed on Friday.
Crude oil output fell to 13.78 million bpd in November, down about 82,000 from October’s record high 13.86 million bpd, the EIA data showed. That is the first month-over-month decline in U.S. oil output since May 2025, and the biggest fall since adverse weather-related outages caused a slump in January 2025.
The U.S. is the world’s top producing nation as well as the globe’s top consumer. Gains in U.S. output, powered by more efficient drilling techniques, had contributed to forecasts of a glut in oil markets this year, so November’s decline could lead analysts to reassess expectations of oversupply.
Total oil and petroleum demand in the U.S. fell 619,000 bpd to 20.23 million bpd in November, the lowest since April, EIA data showed. Gasoline demand fell 208,000 bpd to 8.68 million bpd in November, while demand for distillate fuels, which includes diesel and heating oil, was down 278,000 bpd to 3.80 million bpd, the EIA data showed.
Meanwhile, U.S. gross natural gas production from the Lower 48 states rose to a record 134.1 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) in November, up from 130.7 bcfd in October, the EIA data showed.
That compares with the prior all-time monthly high of 131.4 bcfd in September.
In top gas-producing states, monthly output in November rose by 2% to a monthly record high of 38.1 bcfd in Texas. Output also jumped by 6% to 21.1 bcfd in Pennsylvania, the EIA said.
That compares with a prior monthly all-time high of 37.9 bcfd in August in Texas and a record high of 21.9 bcfd in December 2021 in Pennsylvania.
(Reporting by Shariq Khan and Scott DiSavino in New York; Editing by David Gregorio)