Oil Prices Gained on Energy Demand

Oil prices rose Tuesday as traders perceived that an overnight drop of nearly 2 percent was overdone given the outlook for continued strong energy demand and declining U.S. gasoline inventories.

Light, sweet crude for April delivery gained 33 cents to US$59.24 a barrel in Asian electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, mid-afternoon in Singapore. The contract dropped US$1.14 to settle at US$58.91 a barrel Monday.

Brent crude contract for April delivery rose 34 cents to US$61.08 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange in London.