The West Texas Intermediate for February delivery added 58 cents, or 0.8 percent, to settle at 76.56 U.S. dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude for February delivery increased 29 cents, or 0.4 percent, to close at 79.23 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.
The above market reactions came after signs of tight supplies.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported on Wednesday that the nation's crude oil inventories decreased by 3.6 million barrels during the week ending Dec. 24.
At 420.0 million barrels, U.S. crude oil inventories are about 7 percent below the five year average for this time of year.
According to the EIA, total motor gasoline inventories decreased by 1.5 million barrels last week, while distillate fuel inventories decreased by 1.7 million barrels.
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