Oil prices recover on mixed data

Oil prices increased as US crude data came out mixed.

US crude supplies of last week added 3.5 million barrels to 507.6 million barrels, 73.5 million barrels more than one year before, according to the weekly report of the US Energy Information Agency (EIA) released on Wednesday, Xinhua news agency reported.

US gasoline demand, however, rose 5.2 percent over the past four weeks compared with a year ago, while inventories of motor fuel decreased by 2.2 million barrels, the report said.

The West Texas Intermediate for April delivery moved up $0.28 to settle at $32.15 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude for April delivery climbed $1.14 to close at $34.41 a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.