Oil prices jumped over $64 on Wednesday for the first time in nearly three months after U.S. data showed a steep drop in crude inventories, adding to a perception that high fuel stock levels reached in the third quarter have reversed, according to Reuters. U.S. crude for February delivery CLc1 traded up 55 cents to $64.01 a barrel at 1825 GMT. In London, Brent February crude LCOc1 rose 70 cents to $63.51. Delays to U.S. oil imports due to dense fog along the Gulf of Mexico coast forced refiners to draw on inventories last week. U.S. crude stocks fell 6.3 million barrels last week, according to government data. The fall was much sharper than the 1.7 million barrels analysts polled by Reuters expected. EIA/S The fog disruptions exacerbated an overall tightening inventory picture, analysts said. U.S. commercial crude and refined product stocks combined were 400,000 barrels lower than the same time a year ago, a sharp fall from a huge 76 million barrels year-on-year surplus at the end of September. Crude stocks were still nearly 2 percent higher than they were a year ago. But both gasoline and distillate inventories were lower than last year, despite a small weekly increase in Wednesday's government data. "The tightening over the past two months hasn't really been priced fully in yet," said Paul Horsnell at Barclays Capital. "Products markets looked horribly slack two months ago, but inventories have been falling by a million barrels per day in the United States."
