Crude oil prices were mixed on Friday, with West Texas Intermediate for March delivery, down 11 cents lower from Thursday at $US95.72 per barrel.
In London, Brent North Sea crude for March rose $1.66 to settle at $118.90 a barrel.
Citi Futures analyst Tim Evans said, US crude oil stockpiles were 9.6% higher and oil production was up about 22%, Compared with a year ago, providing an additional 1.27 million barrels per day of production.
Official data issued on Friday showed China's trade surplus rose 7.7% year-on-year to $29.2 billion in January.
AAP reports China imported 5.9 million barrels of crude oil per day last month, an increase of 7.4% from January 2011.
Oil prices also lifted earlier after Ayatollah Ali Khamenei of Iran rejected on Thursday a US offer to negotiate directly on Tehran's nuclear ambitions.
Western powers believe Iran is trying to build an atomic weapon, but Tehran says its nuclear research is for peaceful purposes.
