LONDON: Brent oil futures rose to $107 a barrel after a larger-than-expected draw on US crude oil and distillate stocks offset bearish signals from a possible rise in Iranian oil exports.

“The large crude draw is going to focus the attention of the market as we do not have an off-setting build in products despite the large build in gasoline inventories,” said Harry Tchilinguirian, BNP Paribas head of commodity markets.

“Gasoline cracks are likely to come under some pressure. In contrast, the heating oil crack should be spared weakness as distillate stocks drew, when consensus was looking for a build.”

February Brent crude was up 88 cents to $107.27 a barrel by 1553 GMT, after hitting its lowest since November 12 at $105.80.

US crude for February delivery jumped by $1.35 cents to $93.94 a barrel.

Crude oil stocks dropped by 7.7 million barrels on the week, capping the largest 7-week drop on record, compared to a forecast of a 0.6 million barrel fall, according to the US Energy Information Administration.

Gasoline stocks rose by 6.2 million barrels, more than forecast, while distillate stocks came off by 1 million barrels versus an expected build of 1.5 million.