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1st LD Writethru: U.S. crude steadies after heavy sell-off

Xinhua, March 12, 2015 Adjust font size:

U.S. crude price stabilized Wednesday following a sharp decline in the previous session, while Brent rebounded on the concerns about the Libya's situation.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday that U.S. crude stockpiles increased by 4.5 million barrels to 448. 9 million, 78.9 million barrels more than a year earlier. U.S. crude production reached 9.366 million barrels a day last week, the highest level since 1983. The figure has trumped market expectation of a slight drop in U.S. crude stockpiles.

Last week's increase included a gain of 2.3 million barrels at the Cushing, Oklahoma, the delivery point for the contract.

Meanwhile, Libya's Islamist-backed parliament on Tuesday accused the internationally recognized parliament of the House of Representatives of disrupting the UN-sponsored political dialogue, prompting concerns over the output in Libya.

Crude prices plunged Tuesday as dollar appreciated against other currencies. A stronger greenback made the dollar-priced crude more expensive and less attractive for buyers holding other currencies.

Light, sweet crude for April delivery lost 12 cents to settle at 48.17 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude for April delivery moved up 1.15 dollars to close at 57.54 dollars a barrel. Endite