NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Oil prices traded slightly higher on Wednesday after a government report showed a decline in U.S. crude supplies last week but barely dented a solid year-on-year surplus.

Light crude for March delivery closed 6 cents higher at $45.46 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. In London, Brent crude rose 6 cents to $43.13.

According to the Energy Information Administration, the nation ended the week of Feb. 4 with 294.3 million barrels of crude in reserve, one million barrels less than the week prior. Analysts had expected a rise of one million barrels, according to Reuters.

The survey also showed gasoline stocks rising almost as much as predicted. Gas reserves rose by 500,000 barrels to 216.8 million barrels. Analysts has predicted a 600,000-barrel increase.

But Fadel Gheit, an energy analyst with Oppenheimer, said the dip was small and in the long term should not cause too much worry.

"One million barrels is nothing, it's like a rounding error, " said Gheit. "One vessel could arrive tomorrow carrying one or two million barrels of crude."

Gheit said crude-price fluctuation in the $40s should be normal for the foreseeable future.

"It's almost like the oil markets are feeling their new equilibrium in the mid $40s," he said.

Rising fuel stocks in the U.S., the world's biggest energy consumer, have helped push prices down from last month's peak.

Milder-than-normal winter weather in the Northern Hemisphere has eased supply concerns, leading traders to shift their focus from heating fuel to gasoline supplies, which some analysts say look large enough to avert a price spike in spring.