NEW YORK, April 15 (Xinhua) -- Oil prices climbed on Thursday, extending the gains they scored in the prior session as market optimism continued.

The West Texas Intermediate for May delivery added 31 cents to settle at 63.46 U.S. dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude for June delivery increased 36 cents to close at 66.94 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.

The above moves followed a strong session on the oil market, which saw the U.S. crude futures and Brent jump 4.9 percent and 4.6 percent, respectively.

"Support is coming from various sides: for one thing, the macro environment remains favourable in terms of the economic outlook, the high risk appetite among investors and the weak U.S. dollar," Eugen Weinberg, energy analyst at Commerzbank Research, said in a note on Thursday.

"And for another, the picture on the oil market is continuing to brighten despite ongoing restrictions in Europe and India," he said.

In its monthly report released on Wednesday, the International Energy Agency (IEA) confirmed and strengthened the expectation of stronger demand growth despite the longer-lasting pandemic. It upwardly revised its forecast for global oil demand in 2021 by 230,000 barrels a day.

Elsewhere, a report by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) showed a marked drop in the nation's crude stockpiles.

U.S. crude oil inventories decreased by 5.9 million barrels during the week ending April 9, the EIA reported on Wednesday. The reading exceeded analysts' forecasts for a 2.9 million-barrel drop. Enditem

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