BUENOS AIRES, March 27 (Xinhua) -- Argentina's oil production hit a six-year low in 2007, the country's National Institute of Statistics and Census (INDEC) reported Thursday.

    Oil output stood at 257 million barrels in 2007, down 2.6 percent year-on-year, the report said, adding that this was the sixth consecutive annual drop since 2002.

    Due to a lack of investment in the industry, it said, the oil output of the South American country has decreased by 24.3 percent from its historic high in 1998, while fuel oil imports have surged64 percent to 3 billion U.S. dollars last year.

    Experts in Argentina's oil industry said the high tax on exports of crude oil and oil products was curbing foreign companies' enthusiasm for oil exploration and exploitation in Argentina.

    Pan American Energy discovered a number of oil fields earlier this year in the southern Argentine province of Chubut that could bring about a 40-percent increase in the country's oil production.