Oil prices rise in Asian trade
Posted: 04 March 2011 1033 hrs

SINGAPORE: Oil prices resumed their upward path in Asian trade Friday on doubts about Venezuela's proposal to mediate in the crisis in oil-rich Libya, analysts said.

New York's main contract, light sweet crude for April delivery, rose 45 cents to $102.36 and Brent North Sea crude for April was up 21 cents at $115.

" There is still some scepticism that Venezuela could step in to mediate Libyan's crisis," said Ong Yi Ling, investment analyst for Phillip Futures in Singapore.

Libya and the Arab League are considering a proposal by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to help find a peaceful solution to the crisis in the North African nation, a Venezuelan minister said Thursday.

The head of Libya's National Oil Corporation, Shukri Ghanem, told AFP Thursday that oil production had " been halved," mainly due to the departure of foreign workers who feared for their safety.

Ghanem, who is also de facto oil minister, declined to provide current production figures but stressed that " none of the oil installations were damaged."

" We continue to produce and export" oil, he said.

Libya produces around 1.6 million barrels a day, some 85 per cent of which normally goes to Europe, according to the International Energy Agency.