SINGAPORE: Oil prices hovered below USD 100 a barrel today in Asia after a report showed US crude supplies jumped last week, a sign demand could be weakening. Benchmark crude for February delivery rose 19 cents to USD 99.55 a barrel at midday Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell USD 1.98 to settle at USD 99.36 in New York yesterday. In London, Brent crude was down 2 cents at USD 107.54 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange. The American Petroleum Institute said late yesterday that crude inventories rose 9.6 million barrels last week while analysts surveyed by Platts, the energy information arm of McGraw-Hill Cos., had predicted a drop of 2.3 barrels. Inventories of gasoline added 1.9 barrels last week while distillates grew 600,000 barrels, the API said. The Energy Department's Energy Information Administration reports its weekly supply data later today. Investors are also closely watching developments in the Persian Gulf. On Tuesday, Iran's vice president said his country will close the Strait of Hormuz, and cut off crude exports, if Western nations impose sanctions on Iran's oil shipments. The US Navy then warned that any disruption of traffic in the strait, though which about a sixth of global production passes, would not be tolerated. A Saudi oil ministry official said his country and other Gulf producers are ready to provide more oil if Iran tries to block the strait.

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