Cold weather sends oil price up

26 November 2007

The price of crude oil rose on Monday morning following the arrival of some cold weather in north America.

Friday saw a quiet day's trading because of the Thanksgiving holiday, but US crude gained 89 cents to close at $98.18 (£47.52) and London Brent crude climbed $1.26 to settle at $95.76.

The weakness of the dollar continued to be a key factor in the price of oil, but analysts said that concerns about the supply of heating oil as temperatures start to dip also had a major influence.

Those concerns grew over the weekend when snow fell in a number of places in the US and Canada, as well as in some European countries.

Victor Shum of Pervin & Gertz told Associated Press: "The onset of cold US weather is going to boost fuel demand."

As a result, Asian trading on Monday saw US crude move close to a new all-time high by gaining 67 cents to reach $98.85, while London Brent crude climbed to $96.30.