Benchmark oil prices continued to rise on January 16 morning following a steady increase at the end of the previous session, Report informs via trading data.

March Brent crude futures on the London ICE Futures exchange rose by 0.15% to $82.15 per barrel. February WTI futures quotes on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) electronic trading increased by 0.12% to $80.14 per barrel.

Both grades ended Wednesday's trading at their highest levels since August 12, 2024.

The quotes are supported by official US oil reserves data published the day before. Commercial oil inventories in the country decreased by 1.96 million barrels to 412.68 million barrels last week, according to the Energy Department's weekly report. Experts expected a decrease of only 850,000 barrels.

Meanwhile, reserves at the Cushing terminal, where NYMEX-traded oil is stored, increased by 765,000 barrels after declining by 2.502 million barrels the previous week.