Oil prices extended gains in Asian trade today as very cold weather in the US bolstered demand for heating fuel, analysts said.
US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for March delivery rose 44 cents to $97.63 while Brent North Sea crude for March added 24 cents to $106.02.
Analysts said that the cold weather is probably the major cause of the rally.
Winter-weary Americans were braced for another massive storm that is expected to dump as much as a foot of snow and a dangerous mix of freezing rain and sleet on a huge swath of the country.
Expectations of a decline in US crude stockpiles at its delivery port in Cushing, Oklahoma, also helped push prices higher as a drop would indicate stronger demand in the world's biggest economy, analysts said.
Investors expect the latest report, due later this afternoon, will show that oil inventories were beginning to drain in earnest from the benchmark's delivery point at Cushing after the start-up of TransCanada's Keystone south pipeline.
The pipeline will ease the delivery of crude oil to Gulf Coast refineries in the southern state of Texas.
