NEW YORK, March 7 (Xinhua) -- World crude oil futures rose sharply on Wednesday after U.S. supplies of energy declined in cold weather.

    Light, sweet crude for April delivery rose 1.13 dollars to 61.82 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

    Brent crude for April added 1.11 dollars to 62.50 dollars a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange in London.

    The U.S. Energy Department reported early Wednesday that its crude supplies dropped by 4.8 million barrels to 324.2 million barrels for the week ended March 2, down 5.1 percent from a year ago. Gasoline inventories fell 3.8 million to 216.4 million -- down 3.9 percent from a year, as distillate inventories, which include heating oil, fell 1.3 million barrels to 123.2 million for last week.