Hijjah 11, 1431, Nov 17, 2010, SPA -- Oil prices hovered above $82 a barrel Wednesday in Asia, the Associated Press reported. Benchmark oil for December delivery was down 2 cents to $82.32 a barrel at mid-afternoon Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell $2.52, or 3 percent, to settle at $82.34 on Tuesday. Crude inventories fell 7.7 million barrels last week, the American Petroleum Institute said late Tuesday. The Energy Department's Energy Information Administration reports its weekly supply data later Wednesday. In other Nymex trading in December contracts, heating oil was steady at $2.31 a gallon and gasoline gained 0.3 cent to $2.16 a gallon. Natural gas held at $3.82 per 1,000 cubic feet. In London, Brent crude lost 4 cents to $84.69 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.
