Oil prices breach $82 on improvement indications (AP) (17-03-2010)

SINGAPORE (AP) -- Oil prices rose above $82 a barrel Wednesday in Asia after a report showed U.S. crude inventories grew less than expected last week.

Benchmark crude for April delivery was up 55 cents to $82.25 a barrel at late afternoon Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The contract rose $1.90 to settle at $81.70 on Tuesday after the Federal Reserve said it plans to hold interest rates at record lows.

Crude inventories rose 400,000 barrels last week, the American Petroleum Institute said late Tuesday. Analysts had expected an increase of 1.9 million barrels, according to a survey by Platts, the energy information arm of McGraw-Hill Cos.

Inventories of gasoline and distillates fell, the API said.

Leaders of the 12-nation Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries have signaled they don't expect the group to change production quotas when it meets Wednesday in Vienna.

Despite sluggish oil demand from developed countries, some analysts expect growing consumption in Asia to help push prices higher.

In other Nymex trading in April contracts, heating oil rose 0.93 cent to $2.124 a gallon, and gasoline gained 1.5 cents to $2.29 a gallon. Natural gas jumped 1.9 cents to $4.366 per 1,000 cubic feet.

In London, Brent crude was up 55 cents at $81.08 on the ICE futures exchange.

Source: AP