Commodities: Oil rises above $80 a barrel

Date: Tuesday 23 Feb 2010

Crude oil futures rose above $80 a barrel on Monday, in its fifth session of gains, as refinery strikes in France and the expiry of the front month March contract fuelled demand.

Crude for March delivery settled 35 cents higher at $80.16 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract, which expired at the end of trading in New York, hit an intra-day high of $80.67 and a low of $79.45 in skittish trading.

Crude has risen $10 in the last week, tracking gains among US equities and as tensions between Iran and the West escalate. Meanwhile demand has also been driven by ongoing strikes among Total's French refineries.

Gold lost its lustre on Monday as it followed earlier weakness among US stocks and as the dollar rose against the euro. Gold for April delivery closed down $9 at $1,113.10 an ounce.

Traders are gearing up for a string of economic data later this week including jobs claims, house sales and consumer confidence. Fed chairman Ben Bernanke also addresses Congress later this week.

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