Split Decision for Crude Prices on Wednesday

Strange split for crude prices on Wednesday. February West Texas Intermediate crude added four cents to settle at $30.48 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. February Brent crude lost 55 cents to end trade at $30.31 a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration said that crude inventories rose by 200,000 barrels last week. Total production inched up to 9.23 million barrels a day.

February natural gas added a little over a penny on Wednesday. The New York Mercantile Exchange contract settled at $2.268 per million British thermal units.