World oil prices firmed in London but fell slightly in New York this afternoon, the eve of key energy inventories data in the US.
Brent North Sea crude for delivery in March rose 40 cents to $98.20 a barrel in London trade. New York's main contract, light sweet crude for February delivery, dipped 39 cents to $90.99.
Optimism about the global economic recovery and interest from bullish investors have pushed crude prices close to $100 a barrel in recent sessions, reaching levels that were last seen in October 2008.
Harsh winter weather in Europe and parts of North America, and demand growth in China and other developing nations, have also boosted prices.
The US government's Department of Energy will publish its weekly inventories report tomorrow, a day later than normal because of a public holiday in the US on Monday.
Crude oil reserves are forecast to have fallen by 1.4 million barrels last week, according to analysts. However, the sharp decline is partly because of the shutdown of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline that was restarted on Monday.
US petrol stocks are predicted to have gained by 2.2 million barrels, while distillates - which include diesel and heating fuel - are seen rising by 500,000 barrels.
Venezuela says it has world's largest oil reserves
Venezuela has surpassed Saudi Arabia to become the nation with the largest proven crude oil reserves in the world, at 297 billion barrels, Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez said today.
'At the end of 2010 we had a level of 217 billion barrels of oil, and right now at the start of this year we can certify 297 billion barrels,' the minister said.
Saudi Arabia, long the world's top producer and exporter of crude, has some 266 billion barrels of oil, according to the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries.
OPEC-member Venezuela, Latin America's leading exporter of crude, has claimed steadily increasing proven oil reserves in recent years including a 23% increase one year ago, due largely to Venezuela's oil-rich Orinoco Belt.
The region in Venezuela's southeast has seen a boon in domestic and foreign investment in recent years as Caracas seeks to exploit the Orinoco Belt's reserves of heavy and extra-heavy oil.
For years experts believed it was too expensive to extract and refine the heavy and extra-heavy oil in the area. But the increase in global oil prices has revived interest among foreign firms that have pledged tens of billions of dollars in investment.
Last year some 30 companies from over 20 different countries were operating in the Orinoco Belt, an oil reserve of some 21,360 square miles in the Orinoco River area.
