Oil prices mixed amid Chinese lending data

Oil prices traded mixed on Monday amid surge in bank lending across China, the world's top energy consumer. New York's main contract West Texas Intermediate for delivery in March rose 52 cents to $100.82 a barrel Brent North Sea crude for April eased 11 cents to stand at $108.97 a barrel in London afternoon deals. "China's credit news showed that the credit increased and that there is still growth there. Maybe it is not as fast but it is still moving along," Kelly Teoh, market strategist at IG markets in Singapore, told AFP. Loans by Chinese banks reached around 1.3 trillion yuan ($214 billion) in January, up 246.9 billion yuan from the same month a year ago, the People's Bank of China said at the weekend. In December, banks granted just 482.5 billion yuan in new loans, previous figures showed. The January lending figure beat analyst estimates. Phillip Futures said in a market commentary that extremely cold weather in the United States is helping to push up New York oil prices. "This benefited crude oil as a feedstock to heating fuels," it said. Phillip Futures added that Brent was coming under pressure from increased production in Libya.