Oil prices rose in Asian trade today, buoyed by Wall Street's overnight rally, analysts said.
New York's main futures contract, light sweet crude for delivery in May, gained 97 cents to $50.22 a barrel. Brent North Sea crude for June delivery rose 89 cents to $53.33.
Oil prices are being lifted by Wall Street's rally as investors ignore the bigger-than-expected rise in US crude stocks which is seen as an indicator of weak demand, analysts said.
"I think it's a bit of a follow-up effect from a rally in Wall Street," said Jason Feer, Asia Pacific vice president of energy market analysts Argus Media in Singapore.
The US Department of Energy said yesterday that crude stocks surged 5.6 million barrels in the week ending April 10 to 366.7 million barrels, the highest level since September 1990.
Crude inventories are now 16.5 per cent higher than at the same stage last year.
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The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) cut its estimate for world crude demand again, arguing that a "devastating contraction" in consumption would keep prices under pressure in the months ahead.
"In the coming months, the market is expected to remain under pressure from uncertainties in the economic outlook, demand deterioration and the substantial overhang in supply," OPEC said Wednesday in its latest monthly report.