Oil prices rebound amid short-covering

NEW YORK, Dec. 7 (Xinhua) -- Oil prices rose more than one percent on Thursday, as investors covered short positions after sharp losses in the previous session.

Analysts said short covering in the market and geopolitical uncertainties have provided support to oil prices.

In the previous session, both Brent and U.S. oil prices dropped more than 2.5 percent.

On the economic front, crude oil inventories fell 5.6 million barrels in the December 1 week to 448.1 million, 7.8 percent below the level a year ago, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said in its weekly report Wednesday.

But the report showed that product inventories increased, with gasoline up 6.8 million barrels to 220.9 million, 3.8 percent below last year's level, and distillates up 1.7 million barrels to 129.4 million, a year-on-year decline of 17.4 percent.

The West Texas Intermediate for January delivery increased 0.73 U.S. dollar to settle at 56.69 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude for February delivery rose 0.98 dollar to close at 62.20 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange. Enditem