Oil rises to near $82 amid mixed signs

Oil prices rose slightly to near $82 a barrel Nov. 24 in Asia as an upward revision of U.S. economic growth and a report showing an unexpected jump in crude inventories provided mixed signals on demand.

Benchmark oil for January delivery was up 37 cents to $81.62 a barrel at midday Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract lost 49 cents to settle at $81.25 on Nov. 23.

The American Petroleum Institute said Nov. 23 that crude inventories rose 5.2 million barrels the week ending Nov. 19 while analysts surveyed by Platts, the energy information arm of McGraw-Hill Cos., had forecast a drop of 1.9 million barrels. Inventories of gasoline and distillates fell, the API said.

Oil prices were supported by an upward revision of third quarter gross domestic product growth. The Commerce Department said Nov. 23 that the economy expanded at a 2.5 percent annual rate in the July-September quarter, up from the 2 percent pace initially estimated.

“The better than expected GDP figures that can easily conjure up ideas of stronger than expected oil demand growth,” Ritterbusch and Associates said.

In other Nymex trading in December contracts, heating oil rose 1.2 cents to $2.26 a gallon and gasoline added 1 cent to $2.14 a gallon. Natural gas was down 1.2 cents to $4.25 per 1,000 cubic feet.

In London, Brent crude rose 33 cents to $83.58 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.

—The Associated Press