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1st LD Writethru: Oil prices drop on ample supplies

Xinhua, March 18, 2015 Adjust font size:

Crude prices extended fall Tuesday as traders expected that U.S. crude stockpiles would increase 4 million barrels.

The Energy Information Administration (EIA), the Energy Department's statistical arm, will release its report covering U.S. crude supplies of the week ending on March 13.

U.S. crude production reached 9.366 million barrels at the week ending on March 6, the highest level since 1983, according to EIA.

Declines in the U.S. rig count have yet to dent North American output growth. Final December and preliminary current-quarter data show higher-than-expected U.S. crude supply, said the International Energy Agency (IEA) last Friday.

IEA expected global supply to grow by 1.3 million barrels a day year-on-year to an estimated 94 million barrels per day in February, leading mainly by gains in non-OPEC output.

The increase of oil came "despite the fact that global supply continued to exceed demand," the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) said in its monthly oil market report Monday.

Light, sweet crude for April delivery lost 0.42 U.S. dollars to settle at 43.46 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude for May delivery moved down 0.43 dollars to close at 53.51 dollars a barrel. Endite