December 07, 2006	Thursday	Ziqa'ad 15, 1427

LONDON, Dec 6: World oil prices inched forward on Wednesday after official data revealed a drop in US energy inventories last week.

New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in January, rose two cents to $62.45 per barrel in pit trading.

In London, Brent North Sea crude for January delivery gained 11 cents to $63.43 in electronic trade.

US energy inventories dropped as winter temperatures took hold in the northeast, government data showed.

The Department of Energy said inventories of crude oil slumped 1.1 million barrels to 339.7 million in the week ended December 1. That was roughly double the fall predicted by analysts.

But crude reserves remain 5.4 per cent higher than at this time last year, the DoE said.

Levels of distillate products, such as heating oil and diesel fuel, fell by a smaller 400,000 barrels to 132.4 million over the week, about half the decline expected by analysts.

But heating oil stocks alone went down 1.6 million barrels as the northeast United States suffered a cold snap.

And gasoline (petrol) reserves were down 1.1 million barrels to 200.9 million, compared with an anticipated increase of 965,000 barrels.

“The fact that inventories are falling at a time of year when they are normally rising is bullish” (supportive to prices), Citigroup analyst Tim Evans said.—AFP