Oil prices rose above $72 a barrel Monday in Asia as investors looked to a slew of U.S. corporate earnings reports this week for signs of economic recovery, AP reported. Benchmark crude for November delivery was up 63 cents at $72.40 by late afternoon Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose 8 cents to $71.77 on Friday. Crude investors will be eyeing third quarter company results and forecasts for the rest of the year for clues about the strength of the U.S. economy. Top banks JPMorgan Chase & Co., Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Citigroup Inc. and Bank of America Corp. report this week along with Google Inc., Southwest Airlines Co., Intel Corp., IBM Corp., General Electric Co., and Johnson & Johnson. A more optimistic crude demand forecast by the International Energy Agency on Friday helped boost trader confidence. The Paris-based IEA, which advises oil-consuming countries, said demand will likely reach 86.1 million barrels a day in 2010, up 1.7 percent from this year. In other Nymex trading, heating oil rose 1.72 cents to $1.87 a gallon. Gasoline for November delivery gained 1.1 cents to $1.779 a gallon. Natural gas for November delivery jumped 7 cents to $4.84 per 1,000 cubic feet. In London, Brent crude rose 64 cents to $70.64 on the ICE Futures exchange.
