The American Petroleum Institute reported Wednesday that U.S. crude supplies dropped by 5.1 million barrels for the week ended Jan. 12, according to sources. However, the API data, which was released a day later than usual because of the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, showed a rise of 1.8 million barrels in gasoline stockpiles, while inventories of distillates rose by 609,000 barrels, sources said. Supply data from the Energy Information Administration will be released Thursday morning. Analysts polled by S&P Global Platts expect the EIA to report a decline of 425,000 barrels for crude inventories. They also forecast a rise of 2.7 million barrels for gasoline and a decline of 850,000 barrels for distillate supplies. February crude was at $64.07 a barrel in electronic trading, up from the settlement of $63.97 on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
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