LONDON—World oil prices diverged within a narrow range on Tuesday on lingering concerns about weak energy demand, analysts said.
New York's main contract, light sweet crude for January delivery, rose $0.28 to $77.74 a barrel.
Brent North Sea crude for January delivery dipped four cents to $77.42.
"We still expect resurfacing demand concerns to cap the upside in oil," said VTB Capital commodities analyst Andrey Kryuchenkov.
Oil prices slumped from record highs of above $147 reached in July 2008 to about $32 in December last year, as the economic downturn hit world demand for energy.
Crude futures have slowly won back ground as major industrialized nations emerge from recession but oil demand remains weak despite reportedly rising for the first time in seven quarters.
World oil demand rose between July and September after falling during the previous six quarters, the Center for Global Energy Studies said in a monthly report published on Monday.
The London-based CGES added that global oil demand was set to record its first year-on-year gain during the fourth quarter, although crude oil prices should continue to trade between $70 and $80 a barrel.
Crude futures were likely to stay under $80 also because of high oil inventories in the United States, the world's biggest energy-consuming nation, according to analysts.
New York crude prices last Wednesday breached $80 a barrel after government data showed crude reserves in the United States fell 900,000 barrels in the week ending November 13.
However, levels remain relatively high with demand struggling to recover following the financial crisis.
OPEC president Jose Maria Botelho de Vasconcelos has signalled that $75 to $80 oil is an adequate level to allow for a global economic recovery.
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), which pumps about 40 percent of the world's oil, holds its next meeting to discuss output levels on December 22.
OPEC member Nigeria on Tuesday said its 2010 budget will be based on an oil price of $57 a barrel.
"The benchmark for crude oil sales is $57 per barrel," a senior advisor to President Umaru Yar'Adua told reporters on Tuesday as the draft budget was presented to parliament.
