Crude prices climb slightly after early declines

Crude oil prices were slightly higher Tuesday after early declines on a stronger US dollar versus the euro.

In afternoon trade, May contracts for West Texas Intermediate crude had added 31 cents to $81.91 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while at last report Brent crude was up 14 cents to $10.68 per barrel on the ICE Futures Europe exchange in London.

The gains came even though analysts think that weekly data from the US Energy Information Administration, due Wednesday, will show that crude oil stockpiles grew by nearly two million barrels last week, although gasoline inventories are expected to have dropped by nearly 2 million barrels and distillates are predicted to have fallen by just over 1 million barrels in the same period.

Additionally, based on a report from the Federal Highway Administration, baed on the number of vehicle miles traveled in the US in January, gasoline demand was down in the month.

Nymex May gasoline futures were up less than a cent to $2.26 per gallon in afternoon trade in New York while May heating oil gained a cent to $2.10 per gallon and natural gas futures added 7 cents to $4.15 per million British thermal units.

AAA reported that at-the-pump prices for gasoline in the US were down 4 cents to $2.816 per gallon on average nationally, but they remain more than 85 cents higher than at the same time last year.