Qa'da 25, 1431, Oct 02, 2010, SPA -- Oil prices rose above $83 a barrel Tuesday in Asia as stronger manufacturing in the world's two biggest economies _ the U.S. and China _ boosted optimism that demand for crude will improve, the Associated Press reported. Benchmark oil for December delivery was up 35 cents at $83.30 a barrel at late morning Bangkok time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract jumped $1.52 to settle at $82.95 on Monday. Oil traders were more optimistic after two U.S. reports showed improvement in the manufacturing sector and in construction spending. Both came shortly after China said its manufacturing activity had improved. In other energy trading on the Nymex, heating oil was up 1 cent at $2.28 a gallon, gasoline gained 3 cents to $2.09 a gallon and natural gas fell 2 cents to $3.81 per 1,000 cubic feet. In London, Brent crude rose 31 cents to $84.93 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.
