Oil prices rise on China energy demand concerns | Reuters

Oil prices rise on China energy demand concerns | Reuters

Oil prices rose on Tuesday as a supply crunch in natural gas, electricity and coal continued across the globe while falling temperatures in China revived concerns over whether the world's biggest energy consumer can meet domestic demand for heating.

The Brent crude benchmark rose 65 cents, or 0.8%, to $84.98 a barrel by 1206 GMT after falling 0.6% on Monday. The contract is still up nearly 7% this month.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures gained 87 cents, or 1.1%, to $83.31, having risen 0.2% in the previous session and nearly 10% this month.

"In a bull market it is usually Brent that leads the way higher, but this time around (U.S.) domestic issues provide extra support for WTI," said Tamas Varga, oil analyst at London brokerage PVM Oil Associates.