Crude rises while traders wait on news

www.chron.com Jan. 28, 2003, 11:00PM Dow Jones News Service

NEW YORK -- Crude oil futures ended higher Tuesday, as traders awaited weekly inventory data and President Bush's State of the Union address.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude for March delivery rose 38 cents to close at $32.67 a barrel.

February heating oil slipped 0.39 cent to close at 93.04 cents a gallon. February gasoline jumped 2.57 cents to close at 92.72 cents a gallon.

On London's International Petroleum Exchange, March Brent advanced 38 cents to close at $30.24 a barrel.

Natural gas for February delivery rose 4.8 cents to settle at $5.44 per thousand cubic feet.

Separately, Venezuelan oil output topped the 1 million barrel a day mark, according to dissident workers at state-owned monopoly Petroleos de Venezuela.