Oil holds above US$74 in Asia Wed after OPEC decisio(update)

SINGAPORE: Oil prices held above $74 a barrel Wednesday in Asia after OPEC left output levels unchanged and a report showed U.S. crude inventories fell last week.
Benchmark crude for February delivery was down 7 cents to $74.33 at midday Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
The contract rose 68 cents to settle at $74.40 on Tuesday.
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries said Tuesday that the 12-nation cartel won't change production quotas, a move widely expected by investors.
OPEC leaders called on group members to adhere more closely to current quotas and reduce cheating.
Prices were boosted by signs U.S. oil demand may be picking up. U.S. crude inventories fell more than expected last week, the American Petroleum Institute said late Tuesday.
Crude stocks fell 3.7 million barrels while analysts had expected a drop of 2.0 million barrels, according to a survey by Platts, the energy information arm of McGraw-Hill Cos.
The Energy Department's Energy Information Administration plans to announce its inventory report later Wednesday.
In other Nymex trading in January contracts, heating oil was little changed at $1.95 while gasoline rose 1.1 cent to $1.90. Natural gas rose 1.3 cents to $5.73 per 1,000 cubic feet.
In London, Brent crude for February delivery fell 9 cents to $73.37 on the ICE Futures exchange. - AP
Earlier report
NEW YORK: Oil prices rose after the world's biggest oil producers on Tuesday opted to leave production volumes unchanged, a decision that could mean short-term stability for energy prices after a volatile year.
Benchmark crude for February delivery rose 68 cents to settle at $74.40 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, after dropping to $72.72 earlier in the trading session.
OPEC negotiations in Africa can have a direct impact on consumers and what they must pay to heat their homes or fill up the car.
Crude prices peaked in late October and have been edging downward since.
So have retail gasoline prices and other fuels that are derived from oil.
Energy in the past year have rebounded quickly overall.
The price of crude doubled after OPEC agreed to reduce output by a combined 4.2 million barrels each day in late 2008.
Yet as oil prices have climbed, some OPEC nations have begun to cheat on those production quotas, putting more oil than they had agreed to on the market to raise sorely needed revenue.
Compliance is with those quotes is believed to have dropped from 80 percent at the beginning of the year to 60 percent now.
Crude prices have fallen about $10 per barrel in two months.
Sticking to the production agreement was the focus of oil ministers meeting Tuesday in Angola, and also of investors who see that OPEC compliance has been sliding.
"OPEC's decision to hold production steady is bearish because we know production is going up," PFGBest analyst Phil Flynn said.
Still, prices appear well within the comfort level for the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.
It's part of the reason that retail gasoline in the U.S. has remained steady for weeks at about $2.60 per gallon.
In other Nymex trading in January contracts, gasoline rose almost 2 cents to settle at $1.8880 per gallon and heating oil rose less than a penny to settle at $1.9486. Natural gas rose 4.6 cents to settle at $5.715 per 1,000 cubic feet.
In London, Brent crude for February delivery rose 47 cents to settle at $73.46 on the ICE Futures exchange. - AP