Singapore, Nov 03: Oil prices continued to rise in Asian trade today as the market corrected from sharp losses after the US Department of Energy reported a surprise rise in US crude stocks last week, dealers said. At 0520 GMT, New York light sweet crude oil for December delivery was at 29.36 US dollars a barrel, up from its close of 29.13 dollars Friday.

US crude inventories rose 3.6 million barrels to 291.8 million barrels for the week ending Oct 24, up two percent year-on-year, the US Department of Energy said Wednesday. Inventories had been expected to decline. Oil and gas pipeline explosions near Baghdad over the weekend also supported oil prices, analysts said. An explosion tore apart an oil pipeline near Kirkuk,260 kilometers north of Baghdad on Sunday and a gas pipeline near Baiji, 225 kilometers north of the Iraqi capital was targeted on Saturday.

The pipelines have been targeted in acts of sabotage since former President Saddam Hussein was ousted by a US-led coalition on April 9. Bureau Report