HOUSTON, Dec. 28 (Xinhua) -- U.S. crude oil inventories remained virtually unchanged in the week ending Dec. 21, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said in a report on Friday.

U.S. commercial crude oil inventories, excluding those in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, remained virtually unchanged from the previous week. At 441.4 million barrels, U.S. crude oil inventories are about 7 percent above the five-year average for this time of year.

In the previous week ending Dec. 14, EIA reported a draw of 0.5 million barrels of crude oil inventories, which caused concerns on demand side.

Total motor gasoline inventories increased by 3.0 million barrels last week and are about 4 percent above the five-year average for this time of year. Finished gasoline remained the same, but blending components inventories increased last week.

U.S. oil prices rose on Friday. The West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for February delivery increased 0.72 U.S. dollar to settle at 45.33 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.