Investing.com – Crude oil futures were up for the first time in six days on Monday, rebounding from the biggest weekly decline since December 2008, as speculation that the U.S. economic recovery was gaining momentum boosted prices, which were also supported by a soft U.S. dollar.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in June traded at USD99.08 a barrel during late Asian trade, climbing 1%.
It earlier rose by as much as 1.2% to a daily high of USD99.25 a barrel.
On Friday, official data showed that U.S. nonfarm payrolls rose by 244,000 in April, well above the 185,000 expected increase, as the private sector posted the strongest employment gain in five years.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was down 0.43% to hit 74.84, pulling back from a two-week high.
Meanwhile, Qatar’s oil minister Mohammed bin Saleh al-Sada said over the weekend that the global economy “isn’t weak enough to justify a freefall in prices”.
Speaking at an industry conference in the state’s capital Doha, al-Sada said that a stable oil price is the goal of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and that it was too early to say whether OPEC will decide to pump additional crude at its next meeting in June.
Elsewhere, Goldman Sachs said on Friday that oil prices were likely to recover and surpass their recent highs in the third quarter of 2011 as global oil supplies continue to tighten.
The Wall Street investment bank, which in April advised investors to “lock-in trading profits before the commodity market reverses”, expected prices to climb to as high as USD130 a barrel.
"We continue to believe that the oil supply-demand fundamentals will tighten further over the course of this year, and likely reach critically tight levels by early next year should Libyan oil supplies remain off the market," it said.
Elsewhere, on the ICE Futures Exchange, Brent oil futures for June delivery added 0.8% to trade at USD110.86 a barrel, up USD11.78 on its U.S. counterpart.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in June traded at USD99.08 a barrel during late Asian trade, climbing 1%.
It earlier rose by as much as 1.2% to a daily high of USD99.25 a barrel.
On Friday, official data showed that U.S. nonfarm payrolls rose by 244,000 in April, well above the 185,000 expected increase, as the private sector posted the strongest employment gain in five years.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was down 0.43% to hit 74.84, pulling back from a two-week high.
Meanwhile, Qatar’s oil minister Mohammed bin Saleh al-Sada said over the weekend that the global economy “isn’t weak enough to justify a freefall in prices”.
Speaking at an industry conference in the state’s capital Doha, al-Sada said that a stable oil price is the goal of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and that it was too early to say whether OPEC will decide to pump additional crude at its next meeting in June.
Elsewhere, Goldman Sachs said on Friday that oil prices were likely to recover and surpass their recent highs in the third quarter of 2011 as global oil supplies continue to tighten.
The Wall Street investment bank, which in April advised investors to “lock-in trading profits before the commodity market reverses”, expected prices to climb to as high as USD130 a barrel.
"We continue to believe that the oil supply-demand fundamentals will tighten further over the course of this year, and likely reach critically tight levels by early next year should Libyan oil supplies remain off the market," it said.
Elsewhere, on the ICE Futures Exchange, Brent oil futures for June delivery added 0.8% to trade at USD110.86 a barrel, up USD11.78 on its U.S. counterpart.