NEW YORK, Oct 31 (Reuters) - U.S. oil and gas production

rose to record highs in August, data from the Energy Information

Administration released on Friday showed, despite concerns that

the market is heading towards a surplus.

Record U.S. oil production has been one of the main causes for a

slump in commodity prices this year, with global benchmark Brent

crude prices trading just above $65 on Friday, about 14% below

the same time last year. It is also partly what has pushed the

OPEC+ group to unwind years of deep supply cuts, as it looks to

claw back market share.

U.S. crude oil output rose 86,000 barrels per day to a

record 13.8 million bpd, the EIA data showed. The previous

record was in July, which the EIA now estimates at about 13.7

million bpd, up from a report last month that pegged July

production at 13.6 million bpd.

Oil output from New Mexico, the second-largest oil

producing state, hit a record 2.3 million bpd, while output from

the federal offshore gulf region rose to 1.98 million bpd, the

highest since February 2020.

Future U.S. oil output growth is widely expected to be

concentrated

in the offshore gulf region as the country's top onshore

fields are maturing.

U.S. gross natural gas production from the Lower 48 states

also rose to a record 122.8 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) in

August, up from the prior all-time high of 122.1 bcfd in July,

according to the agency's 914 production report.

In top gas-producing states, monthly output in August rose

by 1.2% to a record 38.0 bcfd in Texas, but fell 0.7% to 20.9

bcfd in Pennsylvania, the EIA said.

That compares with prior monthly all-time highs of 37.5

bcfd in July in Texas and 21.9 bcfd in December 2021 in

Pennsylvania.