Reply #3: Oil prices up slightly in Europe trading

[ozymandius]

VIENNA, Austria - Benchmark oil prices inched upward Tuesday as market participants eyed the midweek release of U.S. government data expected to show domestic refinery utilization rose for the sixth straight week.

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Still, expectations of healthy oil and gasoline stockpiles kept prices in check.

Light, sweet crude for September delivery gained 13 cents to $76.96 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange by midday in Europe.

The contract lost 19 cents to settle at $76.83 a barrel Monday. It rose more than $2 Friday to $77.02, a cent shy of the July 2006 record close for a front-month contract. The contract hit an 11-month intraday high of $77.33 Monday in a short-lived rally analysts said was fueled by technical buying.

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U.S. Energy Information Administration data due Wednesday is expected to show U.S. refinery utilization increased last week, with an accompanying rise in petroleum product inventories and a decline in crude stocks, according to a Dow Jones Newswires survey of energy analysts.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/oil_prices