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Published: Friday October 23, 2009 MYT 7:33:00 AM
Updated: Friday October 23, 2009 MYT 2:41:48 PM

Oil rises to near US$82 in Asia trade Friday(update)


SINGAPORE: Oil prices rose to near US$82 a barrel Friday in Asia, just below a one-year high, as signs the global economic recovery is gathering pace fueled investor optimism.

Benchmark crude for December delivery rose 51 cents to $81.70 a barrel at midday Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The contract rose 18 cents to settle at $81.19 on Thursday.

Investors have taken heart from evidence that recovery from the global recession is gathering pace.

China said Thursday that its economy grew 8.9 percent in the third quarter, building on recent improvements in industrial production, retail sales and commodity imports.

"So far the path of recovery has surprised to the upside," Barclays Capital said in a report.

"The groundwork for a sustainable move into higher price ranges has been laid."

Crude traders are also eyeing gains on global stock markets, which tend to reflect overall investor sentiment.

The Dow Jones industrial average jumped 1.3 percent on Thursday and most Asian indexes rose in early trading Friday.

Prices soared to $82 a barrel earlier this week, the highest since October 2008, from $32 in December.

In other Nymex trading, heating oil rose 0.61 cent to $2.10 a gallon.

Gasoline for November delivery gained 1.08 cents to $2.06 a gallon.

Natural gas for November delivery jumped 5.6 cents to $5.00 per 1,000 cubic feet.

In London, Brent crude for December delivery rose 57 cents to $80.08 on the ICE Futures exchange. - AP

Earlier report

Oil prices slip below US$81 a barrel

NEW YORK: Oil prices slipped below US$81 a barrel Thursday as a wobbly U.S. dollar gained against other currencies.

Crude is bought and sold in dollars, so if the value of the dollar rises, an investor holding euros or Japanese yen can't buy as much crude.

For most of this year, the opposite has occurred and a weak dollar has sent crude prices spiking.

Crude hit $82 for the first time in more than a year on Wednesday.

Benchmark crude for December delivery gave up 18 cents to settle at $81.19 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

In London, Brent crude for December delivery fell 72 cents to $78.97 on the ICE Futures exchange.

Sparked by a cold snap in the northeast, home heating fuels are getting more expensive even though supplies are well above normal for this time of year.

Heating oil futures spiked with crude oil contracts last week.

Retail prices followed, surging an average of 10.2 cents per gallon for residential customers on Monday, according to an Energy Information Administration report released Thursday.

Natural gas futures also grew above $5 per 1,000 cubic feet in the past week.

Those prices are still well below what they were last year, when worries about peaking world crude demand pushed all energy commodities higher.

The government said Thursday that the U.S. has crammed 3.7 trillion cubic feet of gas in underground caverns, the most on record.

A day earlier, it said the country has 33 percent more distillate fuel on hand than it did one year ago.

In other Nymex trading, heating oil for November delivery fell 1.07 cents to settle at $2.0946 and gasoline for November delivery $2.0271 a gallon.

Natural gas for November delivery gave up 15.3 cents to settle at $4.947 per 1,000 cubic feet. - AP


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