Oil was mixed in Asian trade today, with New York crude higher following a stronger-than-expected drop in US energy stocks.
New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in February, added four cents to $98.71 a barrel and Brent North Sea crude for February lost 27 cents to $107.44.
Analysts said that crude oil prices rose for a third day in a row as US crude inventories dropped to their lowest in nearly three years, overshadowing worries about the euro zone debt crisis.
Crude stockpiles in the US, 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 yesterday.
Analysts had expected stockpiles to fall just 2.4 million barrels. The much larger draw-down could reflect increasing demand and therefore activity in the economy.
