The price of oil increased by over a dollar today, to above $93 a barrel, after American lawmakers passed legislation to avoid a "fiscal cliff" that could have pushed the world's biggest economy into recession.
Economists had warned that if Congress did not take action a series of tax increases and spending cuts due to automatically start this year could have helped push the US into recession. They feared a spike in unemployment, which would have resulted in depressed demand for energy.
As a result of a broad increase in market sentiment, the dollar weakened as investors felt confident to invest in relatively riskier assets. A weaker dollar makes crude cheaper and a more attractive investment for traders using other currencies.
Brent crude, used to price various kinds of international oil, was up $1.12 to $112.23 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.
