Singapore - Oil prices hovered above $101 a barrel on Wednesday in Asia after a crude supply report showed mixed signs about US demand strength.
Benchmark crude for January delivery was up 20 cents to $101.48
a barrel at midday Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose 29 cents to settle at $101.28 on Tuesday.
In London, Brent crude was steady at $110.81 on the ICE futures exchange.
The American Petroleum Institute said late Tuesday that crude inventories fell 5.0 million barrels last week while analysts surveyed by Platts, the energy information arm of McGraw-Hill Cos., had predicted a drop of 1.3 million barrels.
However, inventories of gasoline rose 6.0 million barrels last week while distillates added 1.7 million barrels, the API said.
The Energy Department's Energy Information Administration reports its weekly supply data later Wednesday.
Oil has bobbed near $100 for the last three weeks after jumping from $75 in October as signs of an improving US economy offset investor fears of a coming recession in Europe.
“Money is always looking for ways to make more money,” energy consultant and trader Blue Ocean Brokerage said in a report. “We've pretty much ruled out Europe for the next six months and the best-looking ugly girl left to dance is the US.”
In other Nymex trading, natural gas added 0.3 cent at $3.49 per 1,000 cubic feet. Heating oil gained 0.8 cents to $3.03 a gallon and gasoline futures dropped 1.1 cents to $2.63 a gallon. - Sapa-AP