Oil gains

New York : Oil prices rose as OPEC reported that the global oil glut has been virtually eliminated, while U.S. crude´s discount to global benchmark Brent widened to more than $7, its deepest in five months.

Global benchmark Brent gained $1.11 to settle at $78.23 a barrel.

West Texas Intermediate crude rose 26 cents to settle at $70.96.WTI´s discount to Brent was as much as $7.28, its widest since Dec. 12 on surging U.S. output.

U.S. shale production is expected to hit a record 7.18 million barrels per day (bpd), the Energy Information Administration said. The production growth may be far from over, contributing to U.S. crude´s discount to Brent, analysts said.

"You have the threat that a high enough price will start to activate the 7,700 drilled but uncompleted wells in the Lower 48 states," said Walter Zimmerman, chief technical analyst at ICAP TA.