The FINANCIAL — Oil prices rose on Friday, reacting to steps by Italy and Greece to address their economic and political crises and to improved US consumer sentiment.
US crude closed at a 15-week high and posted a sixth consecutive weekly gain, while Brent pushed higher a third straight week.
The euro rallied against the dollar, and the dollar index slipped 1 per cent, also providing a boost to dollar-denominated oil and other commodities.
US stocks also rose on the belief Europe may yet resolve the debt crisis. Italy's Senate approved a new budget law, clearing the way for lower house approval on Saturday and a new government to replace Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's.Former European Central Bank policymaker Lucas Papademos was sworn in as Greek prime minister, tasked with meeting the terms of a bailout plan to avert bankruptcy.US consumer sentiment rose to a five-month high in early November, reflecting an improved economic outlook, the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan's preliminary reading showed.
ICE Brent December crude rose 45 cents to settle at $114.16 (Dh418.96) a barrel, having reached $114.91. Brent rose 1.96 per cent for the week. Brent's December contract expires on Tuesday.
US December crude rose $1.21 to settle at $98.99 a barrel, highest close since July 26. For the week, US crude rose 5 per cent.
Brent's premium to US crude narrowed, hovering above $15 a barrel, having retreated from a $19.91 intraday peak on Tuesday.Returning North Sea supply, expectations that Libya's exports will continue to recover and uncertainty about Europe's debt crisis have limited Brent's recent price strength, according to brokers and analysts.
Output from nine North Sea grades is set to rise by nearly 3 per cent in Dec-ember from the previous month, according to trade sources.
Trading volumes for Brent and US crude were above 300,000 lots traded, with Brent 40 per cent below its 30-day average and US volume 48 per cent below its 30-day average during the noon hour in New York.
US heating oil futures rose, but gasoline futures slipped, leaving heating oil's premium to gasoline at 56.78 cents, or $23.84 a barrel.
Weak gasoline demand as the summer driving season recedes and falling distillate stockpiles as the winter approaches were cited as factors, along with the increases in exports of products, especially distillate.
Tension over Iran's nuclear programme is up after the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency reported that Tehran appeared to have worked on designing a bomb, sparking speculation that Israel or the United States may strike Iran's nuclear sites.
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