Oil prices rise before US inventory data

Oil prices climbed yesterday as traders awaited the latest official reading on energy inventories in the United States, the world's biggest consumer.

New York's main futures contract, light sweet crude for delivery in February, gained 33c to $74.73 a barrel.

Brent North Sea crude for February won 18c to $73.64 in London midday trading.

Analysts are predicting the weekly US inventory data published yesterday to point to increased demand for energy. They expect the Department of Energy to report that US crude stockpiles fell by 1.1 million barrels last week, while distillate inventories are forecast to have dropped by 1.6 million barrels, according to Dow Jones newswires.

Data for distillates, which include heating oil, are being closely tracked as winter starts to bite in the United States and Europe.

Myrto Sokou, an analyst at Sucden Financial Research, said confirmation of a drop in inventories "could drive crude oil prices even higher to test the 76.38 technical level".