New York — Oil prices rose on Wednesday, bolstered by the biggest one-week drop in US inventories so far this year, and after Iraq and Algeria joined Saudi Arabia in supporting an extension to Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) supply cuts. Concerns about rising output from the US, Libya and Nigeria continue to weigh on markets, however, and some analysts questioned whether the sharp rebound following the US government figures would be sustained. The US Energy Information Administration said US crude inventories fell by 5.2-million barrels last week, which was more than the 1.8-million-barrel slide analysts predicted. Gasoline and distillate stocks also fell, supporting a market that has sold off sharply in recent weeks due to persistently high US inventories. Global benchmark Brent crude was up $1.34 at $50.07 a barrel by 3.35pm GMT. US light crude oil was $1.43 higher at $47.30 a barrel. "US crude oil production is now solidly above 9.3-million barrels per da...
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