New York, Jan. 21 (Bloomberg) -- Crude oil rose 5 percent,
the first increase in seven sessions, after an industry report
showed that U.S. inventories were close to levels a year ago,
when prices were a third higher.
Crude inventories now are only 1.2 percent larger than a
year ago, the American Petroleum Institute said late yesterday,
down from 6.9 percent last week and the narrowest gap in
15 months. Crude supplies stand at 321.9 million barrels, the API
said, below the 324.5 million analysts expected.
''It looks like crude has turned the corner,'' said Michael
Fitzpatrick, a trader at Fimat USA Inc. in New York. ''The year-
on-year inventory is the best it's looked in a long time.''
March crude oil rose 59 cents to $12.46 a barrel on the New
York Mercantile Exchange. In London, March Brent crude oil rose
47 cents, or 4.5 percent, to $10.98 a barrel, on the
International Petroleum Exchange.
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