NEW YORK, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) -- Oil prices edged down Thursday, as investors mainly digested the release of U.S. inventory figures.
Crude oil inventories fell 6.9 million barrels in the January 12 week to 412.7 million, posting the ninth weekly drawdown in a row that widened the year-on-year decline by 1.8 percentage points to 15.0 percent, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said in its weekly report Thursday.
The report also showed that product inventories were mixed, with gasoline up 3.6 million barrels to 240.9 million, 2.2 percent below the level a year ago, while distillates fell 3.9 million barrels to 139.2 million, down 17.7 percent year-on-year.
Meanwhile, media reported Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley both upped their forecasts for crude prices earlier this week, while Goldman Sachs said the risks of prices overshooting its current targets are mounting.
The West Texas Intermediate for January delivery decreased 0.02 U.S. dollar to settle at 63.95 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude for March delivery lost 0.07 dollar to close at 69.31 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.
