Crude-oil futures trimmed their decline Thursday after a weekly inventories report came roughly within expectations.
Crude for February delivery retreated $2.49, or 2.8%, to $88.37 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
It had traded at $88.10 minutes before the Energy Information Agency report, which came a day later due to Monday's Martin Luther King holiday.
The EIA said oil inventories dropped 2.6 million barrels for the week ended Jan. 14. Analysts polled by Platts had expected a decline of 2.2 million barrels.
The EIA also said gasoline inventories added 4.4 million barrels, and supplies of distillates increased one million barrels.
