Oil prices rose slightly in Thursday’s trading both in the U.S. and overseas as the U.S. crude inventories experienced a bigger than expected decline in the latest reporting week.
West Texas Intermediate crude rose 13 cents to reach $58.22 a barrel in trading for Feb. 2018 on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Brent crude in London went up 17 cents and closed at $64.73 a barrel.
Natural gas on the New York Mercantile Exchange dropped less than a penny and settled at $2.61 MMbtu.
The increase in oil came as refineries were drawing more crude, averaging more than 17.1 million barrels a day in the week ending Dec. 15, 2017.
While this week marked the second anniversary since the oil export ban was lifted, imports declined compared to a year ago, according to the En% less the same period last year.