LONDON (Reuters) - Oil prices rose on Thursday after a surprise drop in US crude inventories and a halt in exports from Iraq's Kurdistan region were offset by less-than-expected declines in Russian supplies.

And by 1145 GMT, Brent crude futures rose 49 cents, or 0.63 percent, to $ 78.77 a barrel. US West Texas Intermediate crude rose 58 cents, or 0.79 percent, to $73.55 a barrel.

The Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday that US crude oil inventories unexpectedly fell in the week ending March 24 to their lowest level in two years.

Crude stocks fell by 7.5 million barrels, while analysts had expected, in a Reuters poll, an increase of 100,000 barrels.

Prices received additional support from the continued halt in exports from northern Iraq.

Data from companies showed that producers in the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region in northern Iraq suspended or reduced their oil production after stopping oil exports from a pipeline in northern Iraq, with more disruptions expected in the future.

But Citi analysts said on Thursday that support from Iraqi Kurdistan could fade faster than expected.

They stated that "changes in Iraq's internal politics may lead to a permanent political settlement in the near future," and indicated that pipeline flows could increase by about 200,000 barrels per day.

These factors offset the downward trend after a less-than-expected decline in Russian crude oil production in the first three weeks of March.

Sources familiar with the data told Reuters that production fell by 300,000 bpd, compared to a target cut of 500,000 bpd, or about 5 percent of Russian production.

(Prepared by Duaa Muhammad and Noha Zakaria for the Arabic Bulletin - Edited by Marwa Gharib