Crude oil prices hovered above 74 dollars a barrel in Asia, in intra-day trade, today, as investors looked for signs of improving global crude demand. Benchmark crude for March delivery rose 9 cents, to 74.22 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.Oil has traded between 69 and 84 dollars a barrel for the last few months, as investors struggle to gauge global crude demand.Yesterday, Japan said its economy grew an annualised 4.6 per cent in the fourth quarter, while China raised reserve requirements for banks, last week, in a bid to slow economicgrowth and avoid asset bubbles.