Oil prices mixed in Asian trade

Oil prices were mixed in Asian trade today but large energy stockpiles in the US continued to weigh on the benchmark New York price, analysts said.
    
New York's main futures contract, light sweet crude for delivery in March, gained 56 cents to $34.54 a barrel. The contract is nearing five-year lows of $32.20 hit on December 18.
    
Brent North Sea crude for April delivery fell six cents to $45.97 per barrel. The March contract expired yesterday.
    
The price differential between New York crude and London Brent oil also hit a new record, exceeding $11 today, which analysts attributed to soaring energy stockpiles in the US.
    
"The March Nymex has been distorted by the building of inventories, particularly in Cushing," said David Moore, commodity strategist with the Commonwealth Bank of Australia.
    
Cushing, Oklahoma is the delivery point for crude traded on the New York Mercantile Exchange (Nymex).
    
The worst global economic crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s has hurt energy demand and pulled prices down from record highs above $147 reached last July.
    
"The current calamity is as real as real gets. In some quarters it is even being characterised as a depression," said Mike Fitzpatrick of MF Global.
    
Against the current economic backdrop, "30-dollar oil now seems realistic," he said.