Last month’s oil imports rose 4.8% over April, ’85.

The American Petroleum Institute, an industry lobby group, said imports of oil and oil products totaled 5.4 million barrels a day in April. It said U.S. production was 8.8 million barrels a day, down by 1.9% from a year earlier, reflecting the fact that U.S. oil costs more to produce than much overseas oil. Domestic production has fallen each month since January. The API said demand for gasoline increased 2.8%, well under March’s 6% rise but still a gain over the growth rate in the latter half of 1985.