Oil prices rose in Asian trading Monday following a winter blast in the United States, the world's largest heating oil market, the Associated Press reported. In Asian electronic trading Monday, light, sweet crude for February delivery rose 63 cents to US$52.62 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract, which rose US$1.51 Friday to settle at US$51.99 a barrel, will expire later Monday. March Brent crude on London's ICE futures exchange rose 41 cents to US$53.85 a barrel. Last week, the U.S. Energy Department reported the biggest increase in crude inventories in more than four years. It said crude oil stockpiles rose by 6.8 million barrels to 321.5 million barrels in the week ended Jan. 12. U.S. inventory figures showed that gasoline stockpiles rose by 3.5 million barrels and distillates, which include heating oil and diesel, rose by 900,000 barrels. In other trading, heating oil futures gained 1.55 cents to US$1.5290 a gallon while natural gas rose 28.4 cents to US$7.170 per 1,000 cubic feet.
