Oil Prices Climb for Sixth Day on Weaker Dollar, Progress in Europe

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Oil prices were rallying for a sixth consecutive day on signs that the eurozone was coming closer to agreeing on a solution for its massive debt woes and a weaker dollar.

The December Brent crude oil contract was gaining $1.15 to $109.20 a barrel and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) light sweet crude oil for November delivery was rising 29 cents to $86.10. The Dow was up more than 150 points and the U.S. dollar index was slumping by 0.9%.

In another sign that Europe is nearing a resolution to its debt crisis, political parties in Slovakia agreed to let the country's parliament approve an expansion of the European Financial Stability Facility by Friday at the latest. The announcement came a day after Slovakia voted against the measure, making it the only eurozone country to oppose the July 21 agreement to increase the fund.

Also, the European Commission has recommended that Greece receive another round of bailout funding and that a permanent eurozone rescue fund be launched by the middle of next year.

Crude oil prices "are now well above the median, green Bollinger band [technical analytic tool]. While this gives them a certain amount of bullish credit on the charts, it also takes us to that point where prices may now have a limited upside. Prices are starting to get overbought," warn Cameron Hanover analysts. "That does not mean that they have to sell off here soon, but it does suggest that the upside is going to be more difficult to sustain from here," they added.

As oil prices remain at relatively high levels, and with oil continuing to be the most striking and profitable piece of their earnings profiles, big oil companies such as Chevron (CVX), Exxon Mobil (XOM) and ConocoPhillips (COP) are expected to handily beat expectations in this quarter, according to energy trader Dan Dicker.

The latest MasterCard SpendingPulse gasoline demand report shows that gasoline consumption continued to decrease as prices at the pump are still more than 23.2% higher than a year ago for the week ended Oct. 7. This, even though prices have posted a noticeable decline in the last four weeks.

The report says U.S. motor gasoline demand decreased by 2.5% for the week ended Oct. 7 compared with the same time a year ago, while the four-week moving average posted its twenty-ninth consecutive year-over-year decline, down 2.3% compared to a similar period last year.

A macro-economic indicator, SpendingPulse reports on national retail sales and is based on aggregate sales and services activity in the MasterCard payments network.

Carrizo Oil & Gas (CRZO) was gaining 3% to $23.09; Gulfport Energy (GPOR) was adding 4.4% to $27.83; China North East Petroleum (NEP) was advancing 4.3% to $2.18; and PetroChina (PTR) was rising 3.8% to $120.99.

-- Written by Andrea Tse in New York.



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