SINGAPORE (AP) — Oil prices rose to near $94 a barrel in Asia as traders bet Europe will announce a plan later Wednesday that helps solve its debt crisis. Benchmark crude for December delivery was up 52 cents at $93.69 a barrel at late afternoon Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose $1.90, or 2.1 percent, to settle at $93.17 in New York on Tuesday. Brent crude was up 54 cents at $111.46 a barrel on the ICE Futures Exchange in London. Crude has soared 24 percent from $75 three weeks ago on expectations Europe will be able to contain its sovereign debt crisis. Investors will be closely watching a summit of European leaders later Wednesday for details of a comprehensive plan to limit damage from a possible Greek debt default. Signs that U.S. crude demand remains sluggish weighed on oil prices. The American Petroleum Institute said late Tuesday that crude inventories rose 2.7 million barrels last week while analysts surveyed by Platts, the energy information arm of McGraw-Hill Cos., had predicted an increase of 200,000 barrels. Inventories of gasoline added 153,000 barrels last week while distillates dropped 1.8 million barrels, the API said. The Energy Department's Energy Information Administration reports its weekly supply data later Wednesday. Growing investor optimism the U.S. economy will avoid a recession this year has helped crude surge this month. However, the Conference Board said Tuesday that consumer confidence plunged in October to the lowest level since March 2009. "The consumer's psyche is at its lowest point since the depths of the Great Recession" of 2008-2009, energy trader and consultant The Schork Group said in a report. "Given that consumer spending accounts for more than two-thirds of U.S. economic growth, that is worrisome." In other Nymex trading, heating oil rose 1.4 cents to $3.07 per gallon and gasoline futures gained 1.1 cents at $2.68 per gallon. Natural gas advanced 2.9 cents at $3.69 per 1,000 cubic feet.
