World oil prices jumped today on the back of positive economic data and signs of improving demand in the United States.
Brent North Sea crude for August rocketed as high as $118.08 per barrel, the highest point since 15 June. It then slipped back to $117.28, up a hefty $3.66 from Wednesday's closing level.
New York's main contract, West Texas Intermediate for delivery in August, jumped to $99.42, before pulling back to $98.19, up $1.54 on the day.
Payrolls firm ADP said that private businesses, excluding the farm sector, added 157,000 jobs in June, a solid jump after the tepid 36,000 increase in May.
The US Labour Department said meanwhile that unemployment claims fell to 418,000 in the week to 2 July, from 432,000 a week earlier.
Both figures were better than expected but neither was stellar - the ADP figures were still off the 200,000 monthly pace seen in the first quarter.
The positive data raised hopes over tomorrow's all-important US non-farm payrolls data for June.
