World oil prices mixed on Tuesday ( Wednesday morning GMT) , the U.S. futures reached the highest level for six weeks as traders bet that U.S. crude inventories fell again last week , while Brent fell .
The main contract , light sweet crude or West Texas Intermediate ( WTI ) for delivery in January , ending at 98.51 dollars per barrel , up 1.17 dollars from the closing price on Monday ( 9/12 ) at the New York Mercantile Exchange .
In London trading , the European benchmark , Brent North Sea crude for delivery in January, fell one cent , to settle at 109.38 dollars a barrel .
Oil " rebound " (turned up ) of losses on Monday that left a slightly lower WTI , but Brent down more than two dollars , after the news of the German industrial production was weaker .
John Kilduff of Again Capital said the market expected an upcoming report from the American Petroleum Institute and the U.S. Department of Energy shows oil consumption is on the rise .
U.S. crude oil inventories increased by nearly 35 million barrels between mid- September and late November . But last week's weekly report DoE ( Department of Energy ) showed a decline of 5.6 million barrels , and experts anticipate DoE to report another decline on Wednesday .
" We expect a significant withdrawal , " said Kilduff .
WTI price is also supported by a closer commencement of oil shipments through the southern part of the Keystone pipeline , which connects the Cushing , Oklahoma crude oil hub to refineries along the U.S. Gulf Coast .
Most of the pipelines will be officially opened on January 3 .
Matt Smith of Schneider Electric said that oil prices have also been supported by the industrial production data in China on Tuesday .
Meanwhile oil cartel OPEC on Tuesday forecast that world oil demand in 2014 will grow at a faster rate compared to 2013 due to the acceleration of economic growth in the world .
Average demand in 2014 will reach 98.84 million barrels per day , up 1.04 million barrels per day from 2013 , the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries ( OPEC ) said in a December report .
In OPEC member Libya , blockade that has lasted for months by armed protesters in key oil terminals will be discontinued on December 15 , a tribal chief announced on Tuesday .
Protests and blockades of fuel delivery by the Berber minority has cut Libyan oil production of about 250,000 barrels per day from the normal level of nearly 1.5 million barrels per day , according to AFP .
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