NEW YORK, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- Oil prices settled higher on Wednesday after data showed U.S. crude stockpiles dropped for the 10th straight week.

Crude oil inventories fell 1.1 million barrels in the week ending Jan. 19 to 411.6 million, widening the year-on-year decline by 0.7 percentage points to 15.7 percent, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said in its weekly report Wednesday.

The drawdown in crude oil reported Wednesday by the EIA contrasted with a 4.76 million barrel increase reported Tuesday by the American Petroleum Institute, a private industry group.

The West Texas Intermediate for March delivery increased 1.14 U.S. dollars to settle at 65.61 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude for March delivery gained 57 cents to close at 70.53 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.