Oil prices were narrowly mixed this evening as official data showed falling crude inventories in the US - the world's biggest energy consuming nation.
New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in September, added nine cents to $82.64 a barrel. Brent North Sea crude for September delivery fell 24 cents to $82.44 in London trade.
The US Department of Energy said American crude stockpiles fell 2.8 million barrels last week, double the amount forecast by analysts. They said that most of the drop in crude stocks is likely to reflect hurricane-related disruptions.
Oil prices breached $82 yesterday for the first time since May despite weak US economic data.
The US economy created more private jobs than expected in July but hiring has not been rapid enough to ease a severe jobless rate, payrolls firm ADP said today.
Some 42,000 private-sector jobs were created following a revised June number of 19,000, ADP said ahead of a key government report on Friday that is expected to show US unemployment, already at 9.5%, ticking up further.
