NEW YORK, Jan. 17 (Xinhua) -- Oil prices settled mixed on Wednesday.

       The West Texas Intermediate for February delivery went up 16 cents, or 0.22 percent, to settle at 72.56 U.S. dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude for March delivery dropped 41 cents, or 0.52 percent, to settle at 77.88 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.