HOUSTON, Jan. 16 (Xinhua) -- U.S. crude oil field production increased during the week ending Jan. 11, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said on Wednesday.

The EIA report said the weekly U.S. field production of crude oil averaged 11.9 million barrels per day (b/d), up by 200,000 b/d from the previous week and up by 2.15 million b/d year-on-year.

In its latest Short-Term Energy Outlook, the EIA forecasts U.S. crude oil production to average 12.1 million b/d in 2019 and 12.9 million b/d in 2020, with most of the growth coming from the Permian region of the state of Texas and New Mexico.

U.S. oil prices settled higher on Wednesday. The West Texas Intermediate for February delivery rose 0.2 U.S. dollar to settle at 52.31 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude for March delivery increased 0.68 dollar to close at 61.32 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.