Oil rises ahead of US durable goods data

BANGKOK — The price of oil rose above $95 per barrel Tuesday ahead economic data from the U.S. that is expected to reflect a recovery in orders of durable goods.

Benchmark crude for May delivery was up 45 cents to $95.26 per barrel at late afternoon Bangkok time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose $1.10 to finish at $94.81 a barrel on the Nymex on Monday.

The U.S. Commerce Department will release data later Tuesday on February orders for factory-produced durable goods - items expected to last at least three years. Analysts at Capital Economics said in a market commentary that they expect to see a “sharply” higher number.

The consensus forecast is that orders rose 3.7 percent after a 4.9 percent drop in January.

Brent crude, used to price many kinds of oil imported by U.S. refineries, fell 17 cents to $108 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange in London.

In other energy futures trading on the Nymex:

— Wholesale gasoline rose 0.5 cent to $3.059 a gallon.

— Heating oil was steady at $2.983 a gallon.

— Natural gas rose 4 cents to $3.905 per 1,000 cubic feet.