Oil prices surge on supply concerns

Oil prices continued rising Tuesday as supply from Libya is still low and traders await US crude inventories report scheduled for Wednesday.

Though Libya said Monday its western oilfields, which were occupied by protesters since March, would be reopened soon, but the output still remained unchanged at 235,000 barrels Tuesday.

Moreover, analysts expected the report from the Energy Information Administration, the U.S. Energy Department's statistical arm, may show U.S. crude oil inventories shrank last week, which pushed up further oil prices.

Oil prices were also supported by uncertainties of the Ukraine crisis, as the U.S. and the European Union threatened to impose more sanctions on Russia.

U.S. economic data released Tuesday were mixed. The American small-business sentiment rose to a six-and-a-half year high in April, with the Small Business Optimism Index rising 1.8 points to a post-recession high of 95.2, said the National Federation of Independent Business Tuesday.

However, U.S. retail sales rose 0.1 percent in April after an upwardly revised 1.5 percent jump in March, the Commerce Department reported. The reading missed market expectations.

Light, sweet crude for June delivery rose 1.11 dollars to settle at 101.70 U.S. dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude for June delivery climbed 83 cents to close at 109.24 dollars a barrel.