Oil hits 22-mont high in Asian trade

Oil hits 22-mont high in Asian trade

SINGAPORE (Reuters): Crude prices in Asia rose to fresh 22- month highs on Wednesday, underpinned by producers' tight grip on world supplies.

October Brent crude futures, trading on the Singapore International Monetary Exchange (SIMEX) rose to $21.48 per barrel, the highest level since October 1997.

The price level represents the latest in a succession of highs for oil, which has more than doubled in price since February as key producers -- dominated by OPEC -- tightened the taps on production.

October Brent on SIMEX was holding at $21.48 at 0800 GMT, up 15 cents from London's close on Tuesday.

However, October New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) crude futures -- on the after-hours ACCESS system -- were four cents lower at $22.07 per barrel when compared with New York's close on Tuesday.

The Saturday meeting in Caracas between oil ministers of OPEC's Saudi Arabia and Venezuela, plus non-OPEC's Mexico reinforced the view that producers would not loosen supplies until April 2000.

Traders said American Petroleum Institute (API) data released late on Tuesday in New York did not provide a clear outlook for the market.

The data showed that national crude stocks rose 2.6 million barrels last week from the week earlier, when the market had expected a two-million barrel drop.