Oil prices close to year high levels

23/10/2009

Oil prices traded at close to $82 per barrel this Friday (October 23rd), an increase to just below the record 2009 levels of recent days.

Benchmark US crude oil for December delivery fell to $81.70 by midday Singapore time on the New York Mercantile Exchange, a 51 cents increase, reports the Associated Press.

The contract had risen 18 cents to settle at $81.19 on Thursday, the newswire reports.

Investor confidence in the market is improving and there is some belief that recovery from the global recession is underway.

In a report Barclays Capital said: "So far the path of recovery has surprised to the upside. The groundwork for a sustainable move into higher price ranges has been laid."

Earlier in the week prices increased to $82 which were the highest levels since October 2008.

Yesterday it was reported that gasoline and distillate stocks fell and the dollar was weaker.