February 9, 2006	Thursday	Muharram 10, 1427

LONDON, Feb 8: World oil prices dipped on Wednesday as markets took reassurance from news of a strong rise in United States gasoline reserves, despite a surprise drop in crude inventories.

New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in March, fell nine cents to $63.00 per barrel in pit trading.

In London, the price of Brent North Sea crude for March delivery slid 24 cents to $61.32 per barrel in electronic deals.

Prices had dived on Tuesday, closing down $2.02 in New York and $1.77 in London, as supply concerns eased over Iran’s controversial nuclear energy programme.

The US Department of Energy (DoE) said in Wednesday’s weekly snapshot of crude inventories that gasoline or petrol inventories jumped 4.3 million barrels to 223.3 million in the week to February 3.

Oil prices gained almost nine per cent in January on strong fund buying and rising geopolitical tensions, mainly in Iran and Nigeria, who together account for approximately 8.0 percent of global crude oil production.

Crude futures hit 69.20 dollars in New York on January 23 but have since declined, also owing to mild weather during the northern hemisphere winter.

New York prices had hit a historic high point of $70.85 in August 2005 after Hurricane Katrina devastated energy infrastructure in the US Gulf of Mexico.—AFP