Oil prices mixed in Asian trade

Oil prices were mixed in Asian trade on Monday amid lingering supply concerns during the northern hemisphere winter, dealers said.

In early morning trade, New York's main contract, light sweet crude for February delivery, was six cents lower at $93.25 per barrel from $93.31 in late US trades Friday.

Brent North Sea crude for February delivery rose three cents to $92.49 per barrel.

Trading interest was muted ahead of Christmas Day and this was expected to continue until the end of the year, dealers said.

"I think you are now looking at a period where trading is thin ... you will see movement in the prices but it's very narrow ranges," said David Moore, a Sydney-based commodity strategist with the Commonwealth Bank of Australia.

Analysts predicted that the market would trade within tight ranges for the remainder of 2007, a year that has witnessed record price levels close to $100 per barrel.

Prices rose last week after US data showed crude stocks in the country, the world's biggest energy user, had fallen below their five-year average for the first time in more than three years.

The latest US Department of Energy report showed the country's crude stockpiles tumbled 7.6 million barrels to 296.9 million barrels in the week ended December 14.

Most analysts had expected a drop of 1.5 million barrels.