International Herald Tribune reports Rise in Oil Prices

Light, sweet crude for April delivery rose 22 cents to US$61.17 in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange by afternoon in Europe. Brent crude for April was up by 42 cents to US$61.04 a barrel on London's ICE Futures Exchange.
Nymex prices jumped 88 cents Thursday to settle at US$60.95 a barrel, continuing a rally that analysts said has largely been driven by demand for petroleum products.
U.S. crude inventories climbed 3.7 million barrels to 327.6 million barrels in the week ending Feb. 16, the Energy Information Administration said Thursday. But what stoked the market's advance were gasoline inventories falling by 3.1 million barrels to 222.1 million barrels, and distillates, which include heating oil and diesel, dropping by 5 million barrels to 128.3 million barrels. }

Analysts were expecting, on average, a modest rise in crude oil and gasoline inventories and a smaller drop in distillates.
"Cold temperatures and refinery maintenance in the U.S. are seen to be responsible for the considerable stock draw," said Vienna's PVM Oil Associates. The high demand has been sparked by chilly weather and snowstorms in the Northeast and Midwest regions of the United States. Distillate fuel demand was nearly 10 percent higher over the past four weeks than it was over the same period last year, the EIA said.
Supplies remain relatively ample — U.S. crude, gasoline and heating oil stockpiles are at or above the average range for this time of year, the EIA said.
Natural gas futures fell nearly 12 cents to US$7.609 per 1,000 cubic feet on the Nymex and heating oil rose more than a penny to US$1.7395 a gallon (3.8 liters.)
Tetsu Emori, the chief commodities strategist with Mitsui Bussan Futures in Tokyo, said it was likely oil prices would remain within a tight range of US$57 to US$62 a barrel in the coming days.
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Associated Press writer Tanalee Smith in Singapore contributed to this report.