1st LD Writethru: Oil prices rise amid supply forecast

Oil prices extended gains Thursday amid continued expectations of an easing in the supply glut.

Oil prices were buoyed by the lower crude inventories at Cushing, Oklahoma, the delivery point for the U.S. contract dropped. Inventories at the storage hub lost 510,000 barrels to 61. 68 million barrels last week, according to Energy Information Administration (EIA).

Meanwhile, U.S. crude supplies of the week increased 1.9 million barrels to 490.9 million, 91.5 million barrels more than a year earlier. During the same period, U.S. crude production added 7,000 barrels to 9.373 million barrels a day.

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 of the week ended April 24, fell 22 rigs to 932, said oil service company Baker Hughes Friday.

Oil output from Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries was little changed in April, dropping 1,000 barrels to 31.295 million barrels a day, according to the Bloomberg survey.

Light, sweet crude for June delivery gained 1.05 U.S. dollars to settle at 59.63 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude for June delivery moved up 94 cents to close at 66.78 dollars a barrel. Endite