Crude-oil futures slipped in Asian trade Thursday, with Brent crude posting a sharper decline than the U.S. oil benchmark. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in February traded at $94.12 a barrel at 0649 GMT, down $0.05 in the Globex electronic session. February Brent crude on London’s ICE Futures exchange fell $0.42 to $106.71 a barrel. U.S. weekly crude stocks fell for the seventh consecutive week–by 7.7 million barrels to 350.2 million barrels–in the week ended Jan. 10, data showed, compared with an expected decline of 800,000 barrels, boosting oil prices overnight. Strong growth in domestic oil production had driven up oil supply in the U.S. for most of last year, but inventories declined toward the year-end due to seasonal factors and have now fallen by 41 million barrels since November. “Refinery operators are taking advantage of superior refining margins that are being […]