NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - Oil prices hovered just above $60 a barrel Thursday after the government reported that crude stockpiles rose and that the supply of distillates used for heating fell less than expected last week.

Light, sweet crude for February delivery rose 63 cents to $60.45 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

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The Energy Information Administration's weekly inventory report showed that crude oil inventories rose 100,000 barrels in the week ended Dec. 23, versus consensus estimates from Briefing.com for a fall of 500,000 barrels.

Gasoline inventories fell 1.2 million barrels, compared to the forecast that inventories would remain unchanged. Distillate supplies -- used for heating fuel -- fell by 900,000 barrels. Briefing.com had estimated that distillates would fall by 1.5 million barrels.

The weekly numbers were released one day later than usual because the financial markets were closed Monday for the Christmas holiday.

Crude and distillates, including heating oil, are in surplus over last year.

Also supporting the market were growing expectations that OPEC would cut production when it meets at the end of January.

OPEC heavyweight Iran viewed a 1 million barrel per day cut by the cartel as a "good figure" when the cartel meets on Jan 31, the country's oil minister said in a newspaper interview on Wednesday.

-- from staff and wire reports

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