NEW YORK, Dec. 19 (Xinhua) -- Crude prices rose Wednesday as the U.S. government said stocks of crude and heating oil fell sharply last week.
The Energy Department's Energy Information Administration reported that crude stocks dropped by 7.6 million barrels last week, much more than the 1.5 million barrel decline analysts had expected.
The decline was due to a sharp drop in imports, almost a million barrels a day, because fog closed the Houston Ship Channel last week.
Heating oil supplies dropped by 2.1 million barrels last week, much more than the expected 500,000 barrel decline. While gasoline inventories jumped by 3 million barrels, more than the 700,000-barrel increase analysts had expected.
Light, sweet crude for February delivery rose 1.16 U.S. dollars to 91.24 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
In London, February Brent crude rose 1.36 dollars to settle at 91.48 dollars a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.
The Energy Department's Energy Information Administration reported that crude stocks dropped by 7.6 million barrels last week, much more than the 1.5 million barrel decline analysts had expected.
The decline was due to a sharp drop in imports, almost a million barrels a day, because fog closed the Houston Ship Channel last week.
Heating oil supplies dropped by 2.1 million barrels last week, much more than the expected 500,000 barrel decline. While gasoline inventories jumped by 3 million barrels, more than the 700,000-barrel increase analysts had expected.
Light, sweet crude for February delivery rose 1.16 U.S. dollars to 91.24 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
In London, February Brent crude rose 1.36 dollars to settle at 91.48 dollars a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.
