KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia – Oil advanced above $101 a barrel Wednesday in Asia, buoyed by positive economic data from the world’s top two crude consumers, China and the U.S.
Benchmark crude for February delivery was up 57 cents at $101.28 a barrel at late afternoon Kuala Lumpur time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract jumped $2.01 to finish at $100.71 on Tuesday.
In the U.S., government data showed manufacturing in New York expanded at the fastest pace in nine months.
“The positive economic news out of China and the U.S. have increased optimism about global economic conditions and helped ease concern of a slowdown in oil demand,” said Victor Shum, an energy analyst with Purvin & Gertz in Singapore.
Tension between Iran and Saudi Arabia, as well as a move by France to accelerate the EU’s implementation of an embargo on Iranian oil export also supported prices, he said.
In other energy trading, heating oil rose 0.8 cent to $3.05 per gallon and gasoline futures rose 1.4 cents to $2.79 per gallon. Natural gas fell 0.8 cent to $2.48 per 1,000 cubic feet.