Crude Oil Moving Toward $81

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Oil futures were moving higher Monday, reversing an early morning slide that began at the end of last week.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, the front-month contract for benchmark crude was adding 30 cents at $80.80 a barrel. On Friday, the December delivery contract slipped 69 cents to settle at $80.50 on the back of a strengthening dollar and profit-taking. That came during the same week that saw the price go as high as $82, its highest point since a year ago.

The week ahead will be a big one for integrated oil operations, as a collection of supermajors will be reporting earnings. The week will kick off Tuesday morning, with BP(BP) showing off its numbers, followed by ConocoPhillips(COP) on Wednesday, and Royal Dutch Shell(RDS.A) and Exxon Mobil(XOM) on Thursday. Chevron(CVX) will cap the onslaught of oil reports with its showing on Friday.

Each was bidding higher with the rest of the integrated oil sector just after the opening bell, with shares for ConocoPhillips and Chevron adding 1.5% and 1%, respectively.

-- Written by Sung Moss in New York

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