HOUSTON -(Dow Jones)- U.S. crude oil production for October averaged 5.36 million barrels a day, remaining at four-year highs, the American Petroleum Institute said Wednesday. Crude oil output from the lower 48 states increased nearly 15% from last October, averaging 4.67 million barrels a day, in part because of the oil industry's achievements in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, the industry group said in a statement. Output from Alaska, where the largest U.S. oilfield is located, was 696,000 barrels a day, down 2.8% from October last year but up from this summer's lows below 600,000 barrels a day. Gasoline deliveries for October declined 0.5% from last year, their first drop since May, the API said, because there was a surge in deliveries last October following hurricanes Ike and Gustav. If supply interruptions due to these hurricanes hadn't occurred, gasoline deliveries would have shown a growth of about 0.5%, their fifth year-to-year increase in a row. Distillate deliveries declined 11.4% from October last year. Even if the hurricanes hadn't occurred, distillate deliveries would have decreased by 7%, as demand for diesel-powered transportation is down in the wake of the economic recession. - By Angel Gonzalez, Dow Jones Newswires;713-547-9214;angel.gonzalez@dowjones.com Click here to go to Dow Jones NewsPlus, a web front page of today's most important business and market news, analysis and commentary: http://www.djnewsplus.com/access/al?rnd=tsiDPKEf2Ufwpu5oSiUf%2Fg%3D%3D. You can use this link on the day this article is published and the following day.

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