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Oil shoots above $71 a barrel on weak dollar

(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-09-09 13:54

Crude prices settled above $71 a barrel Tuesday as a falling dollar pushed investors to seek out commodities such as oil and gold.

In this May 29, 2009 file photo, an oil rig works in the desert oil field of Sakhir, Bahrain. Crude prices shot above $70 a barrel Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2009, as a falling dollar pushed investors to commodities such as oil and gold. [Agencies]

Benchmark crude for October delivery gained $3.08 to settle at $71.10 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract had settled at $68.02 on Friday after rising 6 cents.

The dollar fell to a low for the year Tuesday against the euro and several other currencies as gold prices surpassed $1,000 an ounce for the first time since February.

Investors often turn to commodities as a hedge against inflation and dollar weakness, and gold seems to be pulling oil along for the ride, said PFGBest analyst Phil Flynn.

"The move in metals has oil reluctantly rallying higher," Flynn said in his morning report. "Normally crude oil would be worrying about the upcoming OPEC meeting as opposed to worrying about the gold market."

Leaders of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries have signaled they plan to keep output levels unchanged at the group's meeting Wednesday in Vienna. That could send oil prices lower as traders expect OPEC members to increasingly exceed the group's official production quotas.

Related readings:  Saudi oil minister: Crude market in 'good shape'  Crude, iron ore imports up in July  China's crude steel output to top 500m tons in 2009  Crude recoups losses, hits $64

Saudi Arabian oil minister Ali Naimi said Tuesday that crude markets were "in good shape," boosting expectations OPEC will use its meeting this week to stress compliance with output quotas instead of cutting production.

The average price for a gallon of regular gasoline fell a half penny to $2.578, according to auto club AAA, Wright Express and Oil Price Information Service. That's 6.5 cents more than a month ago, but $1.08 less than at this time last year.

In other Nymex trading, gasoline for October delivery rose 5.26 cents to $1.8289 a gallon, and heating oil gained 6.2 cents to $1.7825 a gallon. Natural gas rose 7.9 cents to $2.807 per 1,000 cubic feet.

In London, Brent crude was up $2.89 to $69.42 on the ICE Futures exchange.