NEW YORK, July 29 (Xinhua) -- Oil prices rose on Thursday, supported by a positive U.S. fuel inventory report and a weaker U.S. dollar.

The West Texas Intermediate for September delivery added 1.23 U.S. dollars to settle at 73.62 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude for September delivery increased 1.31 dollars to close at 76.05 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.

The above moves came after data showed a larger-than-expected drop in U.S. crude stockpiles.

U.S. crude oil inventories decreased by 4.1 million barrels during the week ending July 23, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said in a report on Wednesday. Analysts surveyed by S&P Global Platts had estimated the U.S. crude inventories to show a fall of 2.5 million barrels.

According to the EIA, total motor gasoline inventories dropped 2.3 million barrels last week, while distillate fuel inventories fell by 3.1 million barrels.

Elsewhere, the dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, slipped 0.45 percent to 91.8713 in late trading on Thursday, notching a four-day losing streak this week. Historically, the price of oil is inversely related to the price of the U.S. dollar. Enditem

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