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1st LD Writethru: Oil prices extends gains amid supply forecast

Xinhua, April 17, 2015 Adjust font size:

Crude prices extended gains Thursday amid speculations that low price started to curb the supply surplus.

Last week U.S. crude production decreased 20,000 barrels to 9. 384 million barrels a day last week, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA).

U.S. rig count continued to drop last week. Analysts believed that low crude prices forced U.S. shale oil producers to slow down the output.

The number of U.S. rigs actively drilling for oil and natural gas as of April 10 fell 40 rigs to 988, reported oil service company Baker Hughes last week.

U.S. crude supplies of the week ended April 10 increased 1.3 million barrels to 483.7 million, lower than expected.

The geopolitical risk of Middle East also supported the crude prices. Reports said that militants took control of a major southern oil terminal in Yemen.

Light, sweet crude for May delivery gained 32 cents to settle at 56.71 U.S. dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude for June delivery moved up 66 cents to close at 63.98 dollars a barrel. Endite