Oil Prices Near Three-Month High

New York, NY, Aug. 5, 2010--Oil prices hovered above $82 a barrel Thursday in Asia, near a three-month high.

Benchmark crude for September delivery was down 19 cents to $82.28 a barrel at late afternoon Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell 8 cents to settle at $82.47 on Wednesday.

Oil has traded in the $70s for most of this year as doubts about the strength of the economic recovery in developed countries offset surging crude demand in developing economies.

Signs of improving U.S. oil demand helped support crude prices.