Oil surges on European hopes

Oil surges on European hopes

U.S. crude oil price surged on Monday as investors hoped European debt crisis would be contained as Greece was discussing about forming a new government in an effort to pass the bailout package.

Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou Sunday agreed to resign and sealed a deal with the opposition on a crisis coalition to pass the bailout package before the euro zone country runs out of money in mid-December. After all the political drama in Greece, the news was a big relief for the crude markets. Investors hoped this expected that would avoid a default.

Besides, the Iran nuclear concerns offered supports to oil prices. United Nation's nuclear agency would release a report about Iran's nuclear program, which could trigger tension in the OPEC member state and pose pressure on oil production.

But markets were also keeping close eyes on Italy, which was also stuck in debt problems. Analysts feared Italy could become another Greece. Markets were volatile following news that Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi would resign. Berlusconi denied the resignation.

Light, sweet crude for December delivery rose 1.26 dollars, or 1.34 percent to settle at 95.52 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the highest level since early August.

In London, Brent crude for December delivery soared 2.59 dollars, or 2.31 percent to close at 114.56 dollars a barrel, the highest settlement since Oct. 14.

Editor: Mu Xuequan

English.news.cn   2011-11-08 06:01:23 FeedbackPrintRSS
NEW YORK, Nov. 7 (Xinhua)