Oil rose to the highest in a week as gains by pro-bailout parties in Greek elections eased speculation that Europe's debt crisis will escalate and threaten global economic growth.
Futures climbed as much as 1.9 percent in New York. The New Democracy and Pasok parties won enough seats to form a majority in the 300-member parliament, according to an official projection, easing concern that Greece would reject austerity measures needed to qualify for international aid. The death of Crown Prince Nayef bin Abdulaziz Al Saud in Saudi Arabia, the world's largest oil exporter, raised the issue of succession for the second time in less than a year.
"The result in the Greek election is certainly better than the alternative," said Ric Spooner, a chief market analyst at CMC Markets in Sydney. "An element of risk has been taken off the board, a box has been ticked, and some adjustment of risk premium is warranted but there's more to go yet in Europe. The stability of the Saudi government is a very important thing."
Oil for July delivery advanced as much as $1.57 to $85.60 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the highest intra-day price since June 11. It was at $84.75 at 1:39 p.m. Singapore time. The contract increased 12 cents to $84.03 on June 15, the highest close since June 8. Prices are down 14 percent this year.
Brent oil for August settlement rose 94 cents, or 1 percent, to $98.55 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. The front-month price for the European benchmark contract was at a premium to West Texas Intermediate of $13.51, up from $13.28 on June 15.
Moving Average
Oil in New York has technical support along its 200-week moving average, around $80.66 a barrel today. Futures halted last week's decline near that indicator. Buy orders tend to be clustered close to chart-support levels.
The prospect that anti-bailout party Syriza would gain control had rattled markets concerned Greece may quit the 17- nation Euro currency union. The vote forced Greeks, in a fifth year of recession, to choose open-ended austerity to stay in the euro or reject the terms of a bailout and risk the turmoil of exiting the 17-nation currency.
The European Union consumed 15.9 percent of the world's oil in 2011, according to BP Plc (BP/)'s annual Statistical Review of World Energy. The U.S. accounted for about 20.5 percent and China used 11.4 percent.
In Saudi Arabia, Nayef's death leaves Prince Salman bin Abdulaziz as a leading contender for the crown prince position, as the kingdom grapples with high youth unemployment, security issues including the threat of al-Qaeda militants and unprecedented political change in the Middle East.
Saudi Supply
The kingdom will make sure there is enough supply in the global crude market, Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi said in a June 15 interview, a day after the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries kept its output ceiling unchanged.
"The whole idea is that there will not be any shortages in the market," al-Naimi said in Vienna. "That has been Saudi Arabia's policy all along. To manage stability of the oil market, keeping it in balance."
Saudi Arabia, OPEC's largest oil producer, pumped 9.9 million barrels a day last month, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Output from Iran, the second biggest, was 3.2 million a day, the data shows.
Money managers cut bullish oil wagers for a sixth week ahead of the Greek elections. Net-long positions fell by 2,541, or 1.9 percent, to 130,508 futures and options combined in the seven days ended June 12, according to data from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission's Commitment of Traders Report.
To contact the reporter on this story: Ben Sharples in Melbourne at bsharples@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Alexander Kwiatkowski at akwiatkowsk2@bloomberg.net
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