The West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for February delivery lost 30 cents to settle at 52.91 U.S. dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude for March delivery decreased 52 cents to close at 56.06 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.
U.S. crude oil inventories decreased by 3.2 million barrels during the week ending Jan. 8, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said in a report on Wednesday. Analysts polled by the Reuters had expected the EIA publication to show a 2.3 million-barrel drop in U.S. supplies last week.
At 482.2 million barrels, U.S. crude oil inventories were about 8 percent above the five-year average for this time of year.
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