Oil prices rose to above US$117 a barrel in Asia Wednesday, the Associated Press reported. Light, sweet crude for October delivery was up 90 cents at US$117.17 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange by midafternoon in Singapore. The contract rose US$1.16 overnight to settle at US$116.27 a barrel. In other Nymex trading, heating oil futures rose 2.01 cents to US$3.23 a gallon, while gasoline prices gained 1.98 cent to US$2.989 a gallon. Natural gas futures increased 25.2 cents to US$8.53 per 1,000 cubic feet. In London, October Brent crude rose 66 cents to US$115.29 a barrel.