Oil extended gains toward $82 a barrel today on the back of a weaker dollar and signs of an economic recovery in top oil consumer, the United States.
Traders and analysts say currency movements could dominate oil prices as demand strength stays unclear during the recovery.
The euro rose 0.4 per cent to $1.3675, helped at the margins by growing support for debt-laden Greece. The US dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies, edged down 0.32 per cent.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy yesterday promised Greece that euro zone countries would help it overcome its financial problems and vowed a crack down on financial speculators Athens blames for its woes.
Crude for April delivery climbed 44 cents to $81.94 a barrel earlier today after touching $82.04 earlier.
On Friday, it rose to $82.07, the highest since $82.34 marked on January 12th. London Brent crude was up 48 cents at $80.37.
New York crude has traded in a range of $69 to $84 over the past few months amid uncertainty about the speed of the global economic recovery.
Money managers extended their net long crude oil futures position on the New York Mercantile Exchange in the week through March 2nd, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission said last Friday. The key speculator group hiked net long positions to 144,058 during the week, up from 132,504 in the week to February 23rd.
Oil also got support from higher Asian shares, which tracked a rally in the US markets to an 18-month closing high on Friday. Japan's Nikkei average and South Korean shares closed up more than 1.5 per cent.
Reuters