the U.S. sustained its position as the world’s leading oil producer, continuing a pace of 12.1 million barrels a day (mb/d), matching February 2019. In addition, petroleum demand in March was the strongest for that month in more than a decade at 20.7 mb/d.

Australia's largest gas producer, Woodside, Thursday said LNG production from its three facilities rose 11% year on year in the January-March quarter, and maintained its 2019 production guidance.

U.S. EIA - Crude oil production from the major US onshore regions is forecast to increase 80,000 b/d month-over-month in April from 8,380 to 8,460 thousand barrels/day , gas production to increase 907 million cubic feet/day from 78,930 to 79,837 million cubic feet/day .

U.S. FRB - Industrial production edged down 0.1 percent in March after edging up 0.1 percent in February; for the first quarter as a whole, the index slipped 0.3 percent at an annual rate.

First quarter production of 18.4 mmboe was a record for Santos and 33% higher than the corresponding quarter, primarily due to sustained strong asset performance and the acquisition of Quadrant Energy.

Iranian Minister of Petroleum Bijan Zangeneh said the current crude oil market was in a fragile state, adding, “If the US decided to exert more pressure on Iran, the oil market would become unpredictably more fragile.”

“Russia will not increase its output unless in coordination with the rest of OPEC and OPEC+ countries,” Mazroui said. “I believe in the wisdom of Russia, and I believe that Russia has benefited from this agreement... I don’t see any reason for Russia not to continue with us.”

Production by OPEC countries in March was 2.2 mb/d lower than in November and now there is uncertainty concerning Libya. Production by non-OPEC producers in 1Q19 was 0.7 mb/d lower than in 4Q18.

Annual U.S. crude oil production reached a record level of 10.96 million barrels per day (b/d) in 2018, 1.6 million b/d (17%) higher than 2017 levels. In December 2018, monthly U.S. crude oil production reached 11.96 million b/d, the highest monthly level of crude oil production in U.S. history.

PLATTS - Iranian oil exports, which have been laboring under US sanctions since late last year, have recovered close to prior levels, supported by unflinching demand from China and South Korea, data from shipping sources and provisional tanker tracking data showed Tuesday.