Oil prices rose today as cold weather hit the giant US Northeast heating oil market and the dollar recovered from fresh lows.
New York light crude oil rose 52 cents to $98.81 a barrel at 5.30pm this evening in thin trading after the US Thanksgiving holiday yesterday, while London Brent crude gained 82 cents to trade at $95.32.
Gains came as the dollar rebounded from fresh lows against the euro earlier Friday after comments from a euro zone policymaker.
The weak dollar had helped lift oil prices to an all-time high of $99.29 a barrel on Wednesday, just shy of the $100 milestone.
Concerns of a supply shortfall ahead of the Northern Hemisphere winter have also supported prices in their nearly 45% rise since mid-August.
US heating oil prices hit a fresh record on Friday as colder weather hit the country’s northeast region, the world's biggest heating oil market, helping push crude higher.
Oil had fallen earlier on signs of higher OPEC shipments in early December.
