Oil prices rose this evening as unrest in the Middle East and North Africa continued to flare and as a report showed that US petrol inventories fell by more than expected.
Resilient petrol demand in the face of strong and rising retail prices and falling stockpiles helped provide more lift for US crude prices, while Brent initially wavered.
Prices were supported early as unrest in Saudi Arabia's neighbouring Yemen and also in Syria kept worries about the potential for oil supply from the region being disrupted in focus.
Brent crude rose 35 cents to $116.05 a barrel, while US crude rose $1.14 to $106.11.
US government data showed a 5.32 million barrel drop in petrol inventories in the week to March 18, surpassing analysts' forecasts of a 1.8 million barrel drop. The petrol stocks fall in the first three weeks in March was the biggest decline for the period since 1990, when the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) started its weekly inventory report.
