Oil settles above $79 on inventory drop

Oil prices settled above 79 U.S. dollars a barrel on Wednesday as another weekly decline in crude and distillate supplies offset a strengthening dollar.

U.S. Energy Department Energy Information Administration reported on Wednesday that during the week ended on December 25, crude inventories dropped 1.54 million barrels to 326 million barrels, slightly less than analysts had expected. Crude stockpiles have been falling in the past four weeks.

Meanwhile, distillate fuels, including heating oil and diesel, fell by 2.1 million barrels and gasoline inventories decreased by 400,000 barrels.

But oil prices’ gains were limited as dollar rose against both euro and yen, pressuring on commodities.

Light, sweet crude for February delivery rose 41 cents to settle at 79.28 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, highest settlement price in about five weeks.

In London, Brent crude for February delivery rose 39 cents to settle at 78.03 dollars a barrel on the ICE Futures Exchange.

VietNamNet/Xinhuanet

Tags: Barrels, Crude, Crude For February, Crude For February Delivery, Delivery Rose, February Delivery, February Delivery Rose, For February Delivery, For February Delivery Rose, million, Million Barrels

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