NEW YORK, Dec 24: Oil prices rose sharply on Wednesday after the release of US weekly inventory data which showed a drawdown in heating oil stocks ahead of peak winter fuel demand season.

Traders also cited concerns about the threatened attacks on the United States during the holidays, as the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) prepared to shut down trading at 1800 GMT for the rest of Christmas week.

NYMEX light crude futures rose 58 cents to at $32.53, while IPE Brent crude oil futures ended a shortened pre-holiday session at $29.06 a barrel, settling two cents higher.

Worries over cold weather, which had proved supportive last week, have subsided in the last few days, letting US oil prices come down from post-Iraq war highs.

US crude oil inventories rose by 1.7 million barrels to 274.5 million barrels in the week to Dec. 19, the United States Energy Information Administration (EIA) said in its weekly report. That keeps supply above the 270 million barrel level considered key to allowing efficient refinery usage.

Total distillate supplies, which includes heating oil, fell 2.3 million barrels to 128.4 million, the EIA said. Heating oil stocks were up 500,000 barrels to 52.9 million barrels.

The fall in distillate stocks, attributed to US refiners trimming production in the last two weeks due to higher oil prices, was seen by the market as supportive to prices, Ritterbusch added.

Both heating oil and gasoline futures prices were higher on the New York Mercantile Exchange after the data.—Reuters