Mexico's Cantarell oil output inches up in March

MEXICO CITY, April 26 (Reuters) - Crude oil output at Mexico's huge-but-declining Cantarell oil field rose slightly in March to an average of 1.585 million barrels per day (bpd), energy ministry data showed on Thursday.

The field, closely watched by energy analysts after a couple of sharp dips in production in recent months, produced 1.567 million bpd in February.

Amid worries the field's decline is worse than first feared, state-run oil monopoly Pemex last month forecast oil output at Cantarell would average 1.526 million bpd over 2007, down 15 percent from the 2006 level.

Pemex is racing to pump oil faster from newer fields such as Ku Maloob Zaap and Chicontepec, but analysts worry those projects will not be enough to make up for Cantarell, the world's biggest offshore oil field.

Cantarell now provides about half Mexico's total oil output, down from about 60 percent in past years.

Mexico is the world's No. 5 oil producer by volume and a top-three supplier to the United States.