Oil prices higher in Asian trade

Oil prices rose in Asian trade Wednesday morning.

New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for February delivery, gained 19 cents to $91.57 and Brent North Sea crude for March delivery was two cents higher at $97.82.

Recent trading has seen crude rally to near $100 a barrel — a mark first breached January 2008 — fuelled by the expectation of strong demand as the global economic recovery continues.

The IEA, the energy policy and monitoring arm of the 34-member Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, said growth in oil demand in 2010 was at one of the strongest rates in three decades, albeit from a low crisis level.

Oil demand grew 3.2 percent last year, an increase of 2.7 million barrels per day to 87.7 million, it said.