Oil Rises to Near $104 After US Supplies Drop

SINGAPORE (AP) - Oil prices rose slightly to nearly $104 a barrel Wednesday in Asia after a report showed U.S. crude supplies unexpectedly fell, suggesting demand may be improving.

Benchmark oil for June delivery was up 19 cents to $103.74 a barrel at midday Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose 44 cents to settle at $103.55 in New York on Tuesday.

Brent crude for June delivery was up 23 cents at $118.39 per barrel in London.

The American Petroleum Institute said late Tuesday that crude inventories fell 1.0 million barrels last week while analysts surveyed by Platts, the energy information arm of McGraw-Hill Cos., had predicted an increase of 1.5 million barrels.

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