LONDON - THE price of oil struck a 15-month high close to US$84 (S$116) Monday in the wake of positive Chinese energy data and as a cold snap raised demand for heating fuel, analysts said.
New York's main futures contract, light sweet crude for February delivery, struck an intra-day peak of US$83.88 a barrel. That was the highest point since October 2008 - a date that preceded a collapse in prices caused by the global financial crisis.
After its multi-month high, New York crude settled back to stand at US$83.80 a barrel, a rise of US$1.05 compared with Friday's closing level. Elsewhere, Brent North Sea crude for February delivery advanced 92 cents to US$82.29 in morning London deals.
DNBNOR markets analyst Torbjorn Kjus said Chinese oil imports data was boosting prices. 'The (December) data were extremely strong and is pushing oil prices upwards,' he said. 'Yesterday's strong imports figures are suggesting demand is only moving upwards. Gross crude oil imports rose a massive 0,8 million barrels a day from November to December and was an incredible 1.6 million barrels a day higher than December 2008,' added Kjus.
Crude futures meanwhile won support Monday also from freezing weather across the northern hemisphere. 'A prolonged cold snap is going to chew up some of those very high inventories of heating oil,' said Argus Media oil analyst Jason Feer.
Oil prices had closed mixed on Friday, with the New York futures contract lifted by a weaker dollar after news that the US economy lost more jobs than expected last month. The world's biggest economy lost 85,000 jobs in December while the unemployment rate held unchanged at 10 percent, the US Labor Department said Friday in a report highlighting a slow and painful recovery from recession. -- AFP
