U.S output fell 2.3%, stockpiles slide 7th week, EIA reports Stockpile decline was less than forecast, API report Oil trimmed its biggest weekly decline in five months as investors weighed the largest drop in U.S. output since 2013 against a smaller-than-expected stockpile decline. Futures rose as much as 1.4 percent in New York. Prices lost 4.8 percent Thursday after government data showed crude stockpiles fell 2.2 million barrels last week, less than the forecast 2.5 million-barrel decline and the 6.7 million drop reported by the industry-funded American Petroleum Institute. U.S. production slumped 194,000 barrels a day, or 2.3 percent. Oil has traded between $45 and $51 a barrel in the last month after almost doubling from a 12-year low in February amid supply disruptions and falling U.S. output. The recovery has prompted U.S. producers to begin returning drilling rigs to service, leading to speculation the decline in production will […]