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Oil prices rise in world markets

11 February 2010 07:25 (UTC +04:00)

Bakuâ€“APA-Economics. Oil rose above $74 a barrel on Wednesday after the U.S. Energy Information Administration raised its forecast for crude demand and prices this year, a sign it expected an economic recovery to gain steam, Reuters reported.

Oil reversed earlier losses after the U.S. dollar pared gains against other currencies and equities pared losses. A firming dollar can make oil, priced in dollars, less attractive to investors.

U.S. crude futures settled 77 cents a barrel higher at $74.52 a barrel, capping a three-day rise in which oil has gained 4.7 percent. Prices had fallen earlier in the day, dipping as low as $72.60 a barrel. ICE Brent crude futures settled up 41 cents to $72.56 a barrel.

The EIA on Wednesday forecast world oil demand to rise 1.2 million barrels per day in 2010 from a year earlier, raising its forecast by 120,000 barrels a day from a previous one. The agency also forecast that oil prices would average $81 a barrel in the second half of the year, up 9 percent from current levels.