NEW YORK, Dec. 20 (Xinhua) -- Oil prices kept rising Wednesday as official data showed a larger-than-expected drop in U.S. crude stockpiles.
U.S. crude inventories decreased by 6.5 million barrels to 436.5 million barrels last week, well above market consensus of a 3.8-million-barrel drawdown, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said in its weekly report Wednesday.
A weaker U.S. dollar also made the dollar-denominated oil more attractive for holders of other currencies.
The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, was down 0.14 percent at 93.313 in late trading.
The West Texas Intermediate for February delivery increased 0.53 U.S. dollar to settle at 58.09 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude for February delivery added 0.76 dollar to close at 64.56 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.
