U.S. oil prices ended lower on Wednesday (Thursday morning GMT ) , after reports the U.S. fuel supply varied showed an encouraging decrease in the supply of crude oil , but increases in gasoline and distillate stocks .
The main futures contract , light sweet crude or West Texas Intermediate ( WTI ) for delivery in January , fell 1.07 dollars to close at 97.44 U.S. dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange , AFP reported .
Brent North Sea crude for January , the European benchmark , rose 32 cents to settle at 109.70 dollars a barrel in London trade .
The U.S. Energy Department reported that crude inventories fell 10.6 million barrels in the week ending December 6 is almost five times the estimated 2.5 million barrel decline analysts surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires .
It is a drop in the second week in a row following a rise in U.S. supplies 10 consecutive weeks that have added more than 35 million barrels of inventories .
However, a decrease in " bullish " in crude stocks offset by an increase in gasoline and distillates or distillation greater than expected , thus burdening the WTI contract , said Tim Evans of Citi Futures .
Gasoline supplies rose by 6.7 million barrels and distillates , which include diesel and heating fuel , rose 4.5 million barrels .
" It is a sign of sluggish demand in the U.S. , " said Matt Smith of Schneider Electric .
Smith noted that heating oil , mainly used in the northeast , the less used and replaced by natural gas , due to the construction of new buildings equipped with natural gas .
In the morning , the International Energy Agency ( IEA ) issued upbeat outlook for the United States and Europe , said the economic recovery in developed countries is expected to lift global oil demand .
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