Oil prices mixed in Asian trade on tight US supplies concerns

SINGAPORE (AFP) - Oil prices were mixed in Asian trade Monday amid continued concerns over tight US gasoline (petrol) supplies but were largely holding their own near recent highs, dealers said.

At 10:25 am (0225 GMT), New York's main contract, light sweet crude for August delivery, was up six cents to 73.99 dollars a barrel from 73.93 dollars in late US trades Friday.

The contract briefly topped 74.35 dollars in early trade.

Brent North Sea crude for August delivery fell two cents to 77.55 dollars.

"We are going towards peak summer demand ... demand seems to be quite strong," said Tobin Gorey, a commodity analyst with the Commonweath Bank of Australia in Sydney.

"Prices can go higher from where they are now," he said.

Oil prices rallied last week after the International Energy Agency raised 2008 forecast for oil demand by 2.5 percent to 88.2 million barrels a day.

Tight US gasoline (petrol) supplies are also supporting prices, dealers said.

US gasoline reserves climbed 1.2 million barrels to 205.6 million in the week ending July 6, exceeding analysts' forecasts of a gain of 825,000, but they were still 3.8 percent lower than a year earlier.

The market is focused on gasoline reserves due to peak demand during the current summer holiday driving season when many Americans take to the highways.