Thursday, December 8 2005 10:03 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Singapore: Oil prices rebounded in Asian trade today (Dec 8,2005) on fresh concerns over the outlook for US winter weather after falling overnight on the back of a rise in US crude stockpiles, dealers said.

At 10:20 am (0750 IST), New York's main contract, light sweet crude for January delivery, was up 28 cents to 59.49 dollars a barrel from its close of 59.21 dollars in New York where it had lost 73 cents.

Investors are switching focus back to the weather after reacting to the jump in US oil stockpiles following a weekly report from the Department of Energy (DoE) yesterday(Dec7,2005), dealers said.

"The market has already responded to the rise in stockpiles. It was reflected in the drop that we saw," said Dariusz Kowalczyk, a Hong Kong-based investment strategist with CFC Seymour Securities.

"Today there is a rebound," he said.

The DoE reported yesterday that US crude stocks increased 2.7 million barrels for the week ended December 2 to 320.3 million barrels, higher than the expected gain of 2.1 million barrels.

Crude stocks are now about 11 per cent higher than at the same stage last year.

Distillates, used for heating oil and diesel fuel, also rose 2.7 million barrels to stand at 130.6 million, the DoE said. Market forecasts had been for a build of 1.7 million barrels.