Oil prices held steady above US$126 a barrel Monday in Asia, the Associated Press reported. Midafternoon in Singapore, light, sweet crude for June delivery was up 33 cents at US$126.62 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. In Friday trade, the June contract hit a trading record of US$127.82 a barrel before settling at US$126.29, up US$2.17 from the previous close. That record was the eighth in the previous 10 sessions, and the first time oil had topped US$127. In other Nymex trading, heating oil futures rose 0.92 cent to US$3.712 a gallon (3.8 liters) while gasoline prices added 0.9 cent to US$3.2325 a gallon. Natural gas futures rose 4.8 cents to US$11.142 per 1,000 cubic feet. July Brent crude rose 31 cents to US$125.30 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange in London.
