NEW YORK, Dec 16 (Reuters) - U.S. crude futures rose on Wednesday as a weaker dollar provided support ahead of a government oil inventory report after an industry report showed crude stocks rose last week against expectations. Crude futures broke a nine-session loss streak on Tuesday. NYMEX January crude oil options and the January Brent contract expire on Wednesday. The dollar weakened as traders' inability to push the euro below $1.45 prompted position-squaring ahead of the Federal Reserve's policy decision on Wednesday. [USD/] The American Petroleum Institute on Tuesday reported crude supplies rose 924,000 barrels in the week to Dec. 11 as imports fell. [ID:nN15215955] The API reported gasoline stocks rose 2.1 million barrels and distillate supplies fell 2.6 million barrels. Refinery utilization fell 2.8 percentage points to 78.6 percent of capacity, the API said. "Some follow-through from yesterday's relief rally. Crude prices could take a hit though if EIA shows a similar diminution in refining runs," said John Kilduff, partner at Round Earth Capital in New York. Kilduff added that any renewed concern about inflation could prompt some crude buying as an inflation hedge. The API said supplies at Cushing, Oklahoma, were up 1.5 million barrels last week. Rising supplies at the delivery point for the NYMEX light sweet crude benchmark, West Texas Intermediate, has helped move February crude's premium to current front-month January to around $2 a barrel. A Reuters analyst survey ahead of the API data yielded a forecast for crude supplies to have fallen by 1.8 million barrels last week. Distillate supplies were expected to be down and gasoline stocks were estimated to have risen. [EIA/S] The U.S. Energy Information Administration will release its inventory report at 10:30 a.m. EST (1530 GMT) on Wednesday. U.S. consumer prices rose in line with expectations in November on a surge in energy costs, but prices were flat excluding food and energy. [ID:nN164079] New U.S. housing starts rose but were lower than expected in November, a government report said. [ID:nN164079] PRICES * On the New York Mercantile Exchange, at 10:13 a.m. EST (1513 GMT), January crude CLF0 was up 86 cents, or 1.22 percent, at $71.55 a barrel, trading from $70.59 to $71.82. * In London, January Brent crude LCOF0 rose $1.05, or 1.46 percent, to $73.10 a barrel, trading from $72.03 to $73.22. The January Brent contract expires on Wednesday. * NYMEX January RBOB RBF0 rose 1.63 cents, or 0.88 percent, to $1.8614 a gallon, trading from $1.8497 to $1.8699. * NYMEX January heating oil HOF0 rose 3.60 cents, or 1.89 percent, at $1.9393 a gallon, trading $1.9114 to $1.9465. * The January/January RBOB crack spread <0#RB-CL=R> was at $6.63, after ending at $6.80 on Tuesday. The January/January heating oil crack spread <0#CL-HO=R> was at $9.83, after ending at $9.25 on Tuesday. * The spread between the current front month and the five-year forward crude contract CLc61 was at $17.35, based on the January 2015 contract Tuesday settlement at $88.90. The spread ended Tuesday at $18.21. TECHNICALS NYMEX crude 10-day/20-day moving average: $72.10/$74.73 Technical support/resistance: NYMEX crude: $70.00/$73.44 NYMEX heating oil: $1.8705/$1.9795 NYMEX RBOB: $1.8124$1.9205 MARKET NEWS * European gasoline cracks fell below $3 a barrel on Wednesday, their lowest since mid-October. [ID:nLDE5BF1L1] * Japan's crude inventories rose 4 percent last week, while refinery utilization hit a nine-month high. [ID:nTOE5BF031] * China raised the import tariff for fuel oil to 3 percent next year and jet fuel to 6 percent, both up from 1 percent, the Finance Ministry said. [ID:nLDE5BF0QO] (Reporting by Robert Gibbons; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)

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