LONDON, Jan 14: Global oil prices rose on Monday after the completion of a major US pipeline expansion project that will cut oversupplied inventories in the United States, the world’s biggest crude consuming nation.

Dealers also took their cue from the weak greenback, which makes dollar-priced oil cheaper for buyers using stronger currencies, thereby stimulating demand.

In midday London deals, Brent North Sea crude for delivery in February added 62 cents to $111.26 a barrel.

New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for February or West Texas Intermediate (WTI), gained 66 cents to $94.22 a barrel.

The Seaway Pipeline expansion completed on Friday means 400,000 barrels of crude oil can now be brought each day from the oversupplied mid-continent market around Cushing, Oklahoma, to refiners on the Gulf Coast.

Previously, only 150,000 barrels could be transported to refiners, leading to a build-up in stocks. “Crude prices have been going up because the pipeline... started up with expanded capacity, reducing the crude inventory in Cushing,” said Victor Shum, managing director of IHS Purvin and Gertz research group in Singapore.

A fall in inventory stocks usually indicates an increased demand for oil that supports prices.

The demand for oil in the US, which is the world’s largest oil consumer, has the ability to affect its prices around the world.—AFP