Oil Prices Higher, Up 17% Since Early February

New York, NY, March 12, 2010--Oil prices moved higher above $82 a barrel Friday after the International Energy Agency predicted a surge in Asian economic activity will make up for a fall in developed countries.

By early afternoon in Europe, benchmark crude for April delivery was up 57 cents to $82.68 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose 2 cents to settle at $82.11 on Thursday.

The Paris-based IEA predicted in its monthly report Friday that oil demand will average 86.6 million barrels a day this year, or 1.6 million barrels a day more than in 2009.

However, it said that oil demand in developed economies will fall 0.3 percent in 2010.

Crude has risen from $69.59 a barrel on Feb. 5.