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1st LD Writethru: Oil prices surge on falling U.S. output, inventory data

Xinhua, April 16, 2015 Adjust font size:

Crude prices continued to climb on Wednesday on signs of the potential easing of the global supply glut.

U.S. crude production decreased 20,000 barrels to 9.384 million barrels a day last week, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said in a report on Wednesday. Meanwhile, the report showed crude oil inventories in the United States rose less than expected.

U.S. crude supplies of the week ended April 10 increased 1.3 million barrels to 483.7 million, 89.6 million barrels more than a year earlier, the EIA said.

Analysts believed that low crude prices forced U.S. shale oil producers to slow down the output. U.S. rig count continued to drop last week, with the number of U.S. rigs actively drilling for oil and natural gas as of April 10 falling 40 rigs to 988, according to oil service company Baker Hughes.

Oversupply and a growing oil glut has hit crude oil hard in recent months. Since June of 2014, oil prices have dropped about 60 percent, hovering around 50 U.S. dollars per barrel, down from a peak of 115 dollars per barrel.

Light, sweet crude for May delivery gained 3.1 dollars to settle at 56.39 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude for May delivery moved up 1.89 dollars to close at 60.32 dollars a barrel. Endite