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1st LD Writethru: Oil prices drop on ample supplies

Xinhua, April 1, 2015 Adjust font size:

Crude prices extended fall Tuesday as Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) oil production reportedly soared to its highest level since August of 2013.

OPEC, which pumps a third of world oil, produced 481,000 more barrels to 31.029 million barrels a day in March, according to Bloomberg. This added pressure to the already oversupplied market.

Meanwhile, the ongoing Iran nuclear talks also claimed the market attention with the March 31 deadline just hours away. On Tuesday, world powers and Iran extended the deadline until Wednesday as they struggled to secure a preliminary deal to limit Tehran's nuclear program.

The negotiators have set March 31 of 2015 as a deadline for a political framework and June 30 for the final deal, so as to pave the way for the final resolution of the long disputed Iran nuclear issue.

Analysts expected that Iran could raise the crude exports by 1 million barrels a day if Western sanctions were lifted.

Light, sweet crude for May delivery lost 1.08 U.S. dollars to settle at 47.6 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude for May delivery moved down 1.18 dollars to close at 55.11 dollars a barrel. Endite