Oil prices were higher in Asian trading as investors looked ahead to this week's release of the US petroleum inventory report, dealers said. At 11.05 am (0305 GMT), New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in October, was trading at 65.73 usd a barrel, up eight cents from its close of 65.65 usd in the US overnight. The market remains concerned about tight supplies amid strong demand globally but the Wednesday release of US oil stockpiles, which is expected to show a rise in crude stocks, could give investors some relief, dealers said. "I think the market is really just gearing up for the stock numbers on Wednesday," said David Thurtell, commodity strategist at the Commonwealth Bank of Australia in Sydney. Mike Fitzpatrick of Fimat USA said the recent rally "showed some signs of vulnerability last week" as concerns about US gasoline supplies are starting to ebb with the summer season winding down, heating oil or distillate reserves appearing largely adequate. " The US Department of Energy in its report last week said crude oil inventories rose by 0.3 mln barrels to 321.1 mln barrels in the week to August 12, which is above the upper end of the average range at this time of the year. Stockpiles of distillate fuel, used to make heating oil and diesel, increased by 1.2 mln barrels to 131.1 mln, in line with market expectations of a 1.6-mln-barrel increase. Gasoline stockpiles fell by 5.0 mln barrels, the seventh straight weekly decline and far more than forecasts of a 1.5-mln-barrel drop.