* Cold snap across U.S., Europe boosts prices
* Eyes on Russia-Belarus oil price spat
* U.S. inventory data awaited for demand indications
(Updates prices, recasts, adds detail throughout, changes
dateline from LONDON)
By Edward McAllister
NEW YORK, Jan 5 (Reuters) - Oil inched toward $82 a barrel
on Tuesday, up for the ninth straight day as cold weather in
the United States and Europe boosted demand for heating fuel.
U.S. crude for February delivery <CLc1> was up 21 cents at
$81.72 a barrel by 12:48 EST (1748 GMT), off an earlier high of
$81.99, a cent below the October 2009 high.
On Monday, the market settled up $2.15 at $81.51, the
highest close since Oct. 9, 2008.
London Brent crude <LCOc1> climbed 40 cents to $80.52.
"Oil prices are on a cold-weather rally, with heating oil
demand seen rising for the next few weeks amid forecasts for
temperatures for much of the country to be much below normal in
that period," said Andy Lebow, broker at MF Global in New
York.
"At the same time, economic indicators showing the economy
is improving implies higher demand for diesel fuel," he added.
Crude markets have in recent months looked to wider
economic data for signs of a turnaround that could bolster
flagging oil demand.
The S&P 500 was marginally higher in seesaw trading
following mixed economic data. The National Association of
Realtors said pending home sales fell 16 percent in November, a
far sharper drop than expected.
The housing number was partially offset by the U.S.
government's report that new factory orders rose 1.1 percent in
November. []
Investors awaited U.S. oil inventory data from the American
Petroleum Institute (API) later on Tuesday and the Energy
Information Administration (EIA) on Wednesday, expected to show
a drop in distillate stocks but steady crude inventories.
[]
U.S. crude futures would reach the highest point since Oct.
14, 2008 if they push above $82 and some analysts said it was
the anticipation that prices would rise above this
psychological point that had boosted oil recently.
"The price rise is not supported by fundamentals today, it
is investment driven," Eugen Weinberg, oil analyst at
Commerzbank, said on Tuesday. "There is a lot of speculative
demand given the fact that we are close to $82, which was the
intraday high last year."
COLD SNAP CONTINUES
Frigid temperatures in the U.S. were expected to boost the
country's heating demand to 21 percent above normal, with
consumption in the U.S. Northeast -- the largest heating oil
market -- seen 11 percent above average levels. []
[]
Unusually cold weather in Britain is expected to continue
into the second half of January after the coldest December
since 1995, while lower temperatures in Europe were seen
gradually spreading from the northeast to the southwest during
the next few days. [] []
Heavy snow and biting cold also hit parts of Asia on
Monday, with unusually harsh winter weather snarling transport
across north China, South Korea and India. []
Investors were watching for any further developments
between Russia and Belarus after an oil dispute saw Russia
briefly cut off supplies to the Eastern European nation. Russia
on Monday said it had resumed supplies to refineries in
Belarus, but tension still simmers. []
(Additional reporting by Gene Ramos and Robert Gibbons in New
York, Joe Brock in London and Jennifer Tan in Singapore;
Editing by Christian Wiessner)
