LONDON, Jan 28: Oil prices held firm on Wednesday as dealers digested soaring US crude oil inventories and a gloomy global economic outlook from the International Monetary Fund, analysts said.

Brent North Sea crude for March edged 60 cents higher to $44.33 on London’s InterContinental Exchange.

New York’s main futures contract, light sweet crude for March delivery, added just four cents to $41.62 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The US government’s Energy Information Administration (EIA) said on Wednesday that crude reserves jumped 6.2 million barrels in the week to January 23, which was more than double market expectations and indicated weaker demand.

Gasoline or petrol stocks sank 100,000 barrels, confounding analysts’ forecasts for a sizeable gain. Distillates, including heating fuel and diesel, fell by one million barrels.“The gasoline number is a little bit of a surprise, but it shouldn’t matter because we have no demand and stocks are still pretty full,” said Tradition Energy analyst Addison Armstrong, cited by Dow Jones Newswires.

New York oil prices had plunged by more than four dollars on Tuesday on expectations of rising US crude inventories, traders said.

Crude oil has plunged in value since striking record peaks above $147 in July as a deteriorating global economy dents demand. —AFP