1st LD Writethru: U.S. oil price drops amid strong dollar

U.S oil price fell Thursday as the stronger U.S. dollar made the dollar-priced crude more expensive and less attractive for buyers holding other currencies.

The U.S. dollar rose against most major currencies Thursday as the drop of jobless claims from the country bolstered market expectation for an interest-rate hike later this year.

U.S. oil price ticked down also as a government report showed crude production of the country still maintained at a high level.

U.S. crude production was little changed to 9.562 million barrels a day last week, according to Energy Information Administration's Wednesday weekly report.

Inventories at Cushing, Oklahoma, the delivery point for the U. S. contracts, added 440,000 barrels to 57.1 million barrels.

Brent oil rebounded slightly after prior day's selloff because of the Iran nuclear deal. Iran and six world major countries have adopted an agreement on the Iranian nuclear issue Tuesday. Traders worried that more Iran crude would come to the already well- supplied oil market.

The West Texas Intermediate for August delivery moved down 50 cents to settle at 50.91 U.S. dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude for August delivery increased 46 cents to close at 57.51 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Future Exchange. Endite