World oil prices rallied on Thursday after successive falling.

New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in November, climbed 85 cents to close with 61.59 dollars per barrel. In London, Brent North Sea crude for November delivery rose 87 cents to settle at 61.34 dollars per barrel. Crude futures have fallen more than 20 percent from its record 78.4 dollars per barrel in mid-July, as demand was downgraded and supply worries eased.

U.S. commercial crude oil inventories fell last week while stockpiles of gasoline and other refined fuels posted gains, the Energy Department reported Wednesday in its weekly survey.

In the week ending Sept. 15, commercial crude oil reserves dropped 2.8 million barrels to 324.9 million. Still, that was 5 percent higher than a year ago and well above the five-year average for this time of year.

Gasoline stockpiles, however, rose by 600,000 barrels last week to 207.6 million, or 6 percent above year-ago levels. Supplies of distillate fuel, including diesel and heating oil, jumped by 4.1 million barrels last week to 148.7 million, or more than 11 percent above year-ago levels.

Source: Xinhua