Oil trading back up near $82 Friday, year highs

Oil prices rose to near $82 a barrel in trading on Friday in Asia, just below a the 2009 year highs, benchmark crude oil futures for December delivery rose 51 cents to $81.70 a barrel at midday Singapore time in electronic trading on the NYMEX. The contract rose 18 cents to settle at $81.19 on Thursday.

Investors have taken heart from evidence that recovery from the global recession maybe gathering pace. China said Thursday that its economy grew 8.9 percent in the third quarter, building on recent improvements in industrial production, retail sales and commodity imports.

“So far the path of recovery has surprised to the upside,” Barclays Capital said in a report. “The groundwork for a sustainable move into higher price ranges has been laid.”

Crude oil traders are also eyeing gains on global stock markets, which tend to reflect overall investor sentiment. The Dow Jones industrial average jumped 1.3 percent on Thursday and most Asian indexes rose in early trading Friday. Oil prices soared to $82 a barrel earlier this week, the highest since October 2008, from $32 in December.

In London, Brent crude for December delivery rose 57 cents to $80.08 on the ICE Futures exchange.

Tags:  oil price, oil trading