Oil prices rose this evening after a nine-day losing streak, as traders bet that government data would show that US crude stockpiles fell last week, and colder than normal US weather could boost demand for heating oil.
US crude rose $1.12 to $70.63 a barrel, while London Brent was up 57 cents to $72.46. Oil prices had fallen more than 11% over the previous nine trading days, amid high global crude inventories and weak fuel demand.
US government data tomorrow may show that crude stocks in the US, the world's top energy consumer, fell by two million barrels last week as refineries churned out more fuel, according to analysts.
A 10-day National Weather Service forecast late on Monday said there would be lower than normal temperatures in most of the eastern US, the world's biggest regional consumer of heating oil.
More heating oil use could help further draw down crude stocks, which stand around 7% higher than five-year seasonal averages in the US as a sluggish economic recovery continues to cut into demand.
OPEC, which pumps a third of the world's oil, slightly raised its forecast for world oil demand growth in 2010 to average 85.1 million bpd (barrels per day), up by 70,000 bpd from its forecast last month.
