U.S. crude oil inventories down last week: API

According to API, US crude oil inventories dropped by 5.215 million barrels for the week ending Jan. 5, surprising analysts who had predicted a decrease of 1.200 million barrels.

The previous week had seen a decrease of 7.418 million barrels. As a result, oil prices rose. The West Texas Intermediate for February delivery went up by 1.47 U.S. dollars, or 2.08 percent, to settle at 72.24 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. On the London ICE Futures Exchange, Brent crude for March delivery also saw an increase of 1.47 dollars, or 1.93 percent, settling at 77.59 dollars a barrel.