Crude prices mixed in Asia

SINGAPORE: Oil prices were mixed in Asia Thursday as positive global manufacturing data and Iranian tensions were weighed by the unresolved talks on Greece's debt and higher US inventories, analysts said.

New York's main contract, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for delivery in March, dipped five cents to $97.56 per barrel while Brent North Sea crude for March delivery added 24 cents to $111.80.

"Brent crude oil prices moved slightly higher on European debt-deal hopes and encouraging Chinese economic data," said Sanjeev Gupta, who heads the Asia-Pacific oil and gas practice at Ernst and Young in Singapore.

Crude prices "remained broadly underpinned by the simmering Iran tensions," he told. (AFP)