U.S. crude oil production fell 187,000 barrels per day in February to 11.7 million bpd as output dropped in the Gulf of Mexico and key on-shore oil-producing states including Oklahoma and North Dakota, according to U.S. government data on Tuesday. The production decline was the second consecutive slip, following a fall in January, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration data. Rising output to record levels due to increased production from onshore shale formations and an uptick in the Gulf of Mexico has made the U.S. the top global oil producer and has shifted global trade flows of crude. As a result, monthly production is closely watched. Crude output in the Gulf of Mexico dropped 9.8 percent from a month […]