Oil up as US crude stocks fall

SINGAPORE: Oil rose in Asian trade Thursday, boosted by a stronger-than-expected drop in US crude stocks, analysts said.

New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in February, added 40 cents to $99.07 a barrel and Brent North Sea crude for February gained 13 cents to $107.84.

"Crude oil prices rose for a third straight day as US crude inventories dropped to their lowest in nearly three years, overshadowing worries about the eurozone debt crisis," said Ker Chung Yang, commodity analyst at Phillip Futures in Singapore.

Crude stockpiles in the United States, the world's biggest oil-consuming nation, fell 10.6 million barrels to 323.6 million barrels in the week to December 16, data from the US Department of Energy showed Wednesday.

Analysts had expected crude stockpiles to fall just 2.4 million barrels. The much larger draw-down could reflecting increasing demand and therefore activity in the economy.