Mubasher: Oil prices settled lower on Wednesday despite rising earlier in the session after data showed that crude inventories in the United States declined for the second conservative week in a row

Nymex futures for January delivery went down by 1% to close at $51.15 a barrel, giving up earlier gains after rising to $52.88.

Brent crude futures for February delivery slipped less than 0.1%, to settle at $60.15.

The weekly report by the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) showed that oil stockpiles fell by 1.2 million barrels during the week ended Friday 7 December.