Oil firmed above $70 a barrel to new seven-month highs in Asian trade today on weakness in the $ and hopes of a recovery in the global economy, analysts said.
New York's main futures contract, light sweet crude for July delivery, climbed 81 cents to $70.82 a barrel after closing above the 70-dollar mark for the first time since November in US trade overnight.
Brent North Sea crude for delivery in July also hurdled the 70 dollar level, gaining 55 cents to 70.17 dollars in morning trade.
Analysts attributed the price rise to signs that the worst is over for the recession-hit US economy, the world's biggest energy consumer, as well as weakness in the $.
A weaker dollar makes dollar-priced crude cheaper for buyers holding stronger currencies. That tends to stimulate demand and push the market higher.
Singapore's DBS Bank said the US dollar weakness is likely to be a topic during a meeting of the Group of Eight (G8) industrialised countries in Italy this weekend.
Oil prices were up even as the US Energy Information Administration (EIA), the Energy Department's analytical and statistics wing, said yesterday that global oil demand was expected to fall two percent to 83.7 million barrels a day.
