Dec. 16 (Bloomberg) -- Australian stocks gained, led by oil producers such as BHP Billiton and Woodside Petroleum Ltd., after crude oil prices in New York had the biggest surge in six months amid a decline in U.S. heating-oil inventories and colder weather.

``Besides producers directly benefiting from selling oil at high prices, Australia is a net exporter of crude so investors recognize there are benefits to the economy from rising oil prices,'' said Leigh Gardner, head of sales trading at ABN Amro in Sydney.

The S&P/ASX 200 Index advanced 28.70, or 0.7 percent, to 3972.90 at 12:10 p.m. in Sydney. About 12 stocks rose for every five that fell. The benchmark may surpass its record close set Dec. 6.

New Zealand's NZSX 50 Index fell 0.82 point to 2974.69 as of 2:07 p.m. in Wellington.

BHP, Australia's biggest oil and gas producer, rose 19 cents, or 1.3 percent, to A$15.10. Woodside, the nation's second- biggest producer, climbed 23 cents, or 1.2 percent, to A$19.88.

Crude oil surged 5.7 percent to $44.19 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange as below-normal temperatures this week helped boosted demand. U.S. heating oil supplies were 4.8 percent lower than a year ago, according to a U.S. Energy Department report.

The S&P/ASX 200 Index's futures contract for December gained 0.8 percent to 3988. The broader All Ordinaries Index rose 0.7 percent to 3980.5.

The following stocks also rose or fell. The stock symbols are in brackets after the company names.

Australian stocks:

New listings: Souls Private Equity Ltd. (SOE AU), an investment company, traded at 27 cents on its first day of trading. The company raised A$125 million ($96 million) selling shares at 25 cents each.

Mesoblast Ltd. (MSB AU), which develops stem cell technologies for orthopedic applications, traded as high as A$1.00 on its first day of trading. The company raised more than A$21 million selling shares at 50 cents apiece. Mesoblast last traded at 80 cents.

Abacus Property Group (ABP AU), an Australian real estate investment company, fell 2 cents, or 1.5 percent, to A$1.28. The company raised A$39.3 million selling shares at A$1.26 apiece to fund acquisitions. The share sale will help it fund its A$36.3 million acquisition of a North Sydney office building from Stockland.

Centennial Coal Co. (CEY AU), which supplies 40 percent of the coal used in Australia's New South Wales state, climbed 8 cents, or 2 percent, to A$4.08. The company said it completed a A$615 million debt refinancing.

CFS Gandel Retail Trust (GAN AU), an Australian owner and developer of shopping malls, was halted from trade while it sells new stock to institutions. CFS Gandel fell 2 cents, or 1.2 percent, to A$1.64 yesterday.

Chemeq Ltd. (CMQ AU), a biotechnology company which makes animal products, plunged 43 cents, or 23 percent, to A$1.42. Chief Financial Officer Ian Purdy resigned and the company has production delays, Chemeq said in a statement. The company delayed the shipment of a A$1.5 million South African sales order because of ``issues'' with a new manufacturing facility, which slowed production, it said in the statement.

Mortgage Choice Ltd. (MOC AU), an Australian mortgage lender, fell 12 cents, or 11 percent, to 93 cents. Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. (ANZ AU), the third-largest Australian lender, said yesterday it will cut commissions paid to mortgage brokers because of increased competition.

SP Telemedia Ltd. (SOT AU), a Newcastle-based communications company, was halted from trading as the company is considering a A$50 million share sale to fund recent acquisitions. The shares added a cent, or 0.5 percent, to A$2.16 yesterday.

New Zealand stocks:

New Zealand Exchange Ltd. (NZX NZ), operator of the nation's stock exchange, rose 11 cents, or 1.2 percent, to NZ$9.39, adding to yesterday's 4.9 percent gain. New Zealand Exchange yesterday formed a joint venture with Australia's ASX Perpetual Registrars Ltd. to start a share registry business in New Zealand to rival Computershare Ltd. (CPU AU).

Ports of Auckland Ltd. (POA NZ), New Zealand's largest port, gained 8 cents, or 1.2 percent, to NZ$6.84. Ports of Auckland is closer to buying a 19.9 percent stake in neighboring Northland Port Corp. (NTH NZ) after the Northland Regional Council agreed to the sale, the company said in a statement after the market closed yesterday.

Wrightson Ltd. (WRI NZ), the largest publicly traded agricultural services company, added 5 cents, or 2.8 percent, to NZ$1.82 after it yesterday raised its forecast for full-year profit to NZ$18 million ($13 million), citing increased livestock prices and control of costs. In May, the company said its 2005 profit would be NZ$15 million to NZ$16.5 million.

To contact the reporter for this story: Stuart Kelly in Sydney skelly22@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: December 15, 2004 20:26 EST