1st LD Writethru: U.S. oil price edges down amid surplus supplies

U.S. oil prices lost Friday amid concerns that the recent rally could invite more crude production.

The number of U.S. rigs actively drilling for oil of the week ended May 15, fell 8 rigs to 660, said oil service company Baker Hughes Friday. It is the least weekly decline since December.

Analysts believed a rebound in oil prices over the past month and a half encouraged U.S. shale oil producers to maintain the output.

U.S. crude production added 5,000 barrels to 9.374 million barrels a day last week, still at historic high level, said Energy Information Administration in its Wednesday weekly report.

Total U.S. crude oil production averaged an estimated 9.3 million barrels per day in March. EIA projected total U.S. crude oil production averages 9.2 million barrels per day in both 2015 and 2016.

Analysts are keeping an eye on Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, which is scheduled to meet in Vienna on June 5 to discuss its output. The cartel, which pumps a third of world oil, declined to cut output quota at a November meeting.

Light, sweet crude for June delivery lost 19 cents to settle at 59.69 U.S. dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. In London, Brent North Sea crude for June delivery, the global benchmark, moved up 11 cents to close at 66.81 dollars a barrel. Endite