Benchmark oil for February delivery climbed to US$91.8 on the Nymex, rising on reports of a larger-than-expected drop in crude oil supplies and rising stock markets. Stock markets have started moving up on an improvement in Europe's financial condition. As per the Energy Department, commercial oil supplies in USA fell by 2.2 mln barrels to 333.1 mln barrels last week, while gasoline supplies increased by 5.1 mln barrels to 223.2 mln barrels. Demand rose 1.9 percent from a year ago to 9.1 million barrels a day in the past four weeks. Supplies of distillates, which include heating oil and diesel fuel, grew by 2.7 mln barrels to 164.8 mln barrels. The economic environment brightened in Europe as Portugal borrowed US$1.6 billion to help its troubled economy. In London, Brent crude rose 51 cents to settle at $98.12 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.
13-Jan-11 
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