WTI crude declines, while Brent crude rises

WTI crude continued to decline on concerns over the global oil oversupply. The International Energy Agency (IEA) released its monthly report on Wednesday. The agency said that oil oversupply will persist until at least late 2016, driven by a warm winter and the slowdown in the global economy.

The IEA expects global oil demand to expand by 1.2 million barrels a day (mbd) this year, unchanged from its previous estimate, down from 1.8 mbd in 2015.

"We conclude that the oil market faces the prospect of a third successive year when supply will exceed demand by 1 million bpd and there will be enormous strain on the ability of the oil system to absorb it efficiently," the IEA said.

Earlier, oil prices rose on the Chinese economic and oil consumption data. China's National Bureau of Statistics released its gross domestic product (GDP) data on Tuesday. The country's economy expanded 6.8% in the fourth quarter of 2015, after a 6.9% rise in the third quarter. It was the slowest rise since 2009.

In 2015 as whole, China's economy grew 6.9%, after a 7.3% increase in 2014. It was the slowest growth since 1990.

Reuters reported on Tuesday that according to its preliminary calculations, oil consumption in China totalled 10.32 million barrels a day in 2015, up 2.5% from 2014.

WTI crude oil for March delivery dropped to $28.36 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Brent crude oil for March rose to $28.94 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe.