Oil settles near US$100 as US debt talks drag on and dollar weakens

NEW YORK, N.Y. - Oil prices rose Tuesday as legislators battled over an agreement on the U.S. debt limit and the American dollar weakened over uncertainty about the economy.

While congressional leaders bickered over spending and raising the borrowing limit ahead of an Aug. 2 deadline, oil traders took their cues for buying and selling contracts from other financial markets instead of supply and demand basics.

The dollar fell sharply against the euro and other currencies on Tuesday. That tends to raise the price of oil, since crude is priced in dollars and a weaker dollar makes oil more of a bargain for traders using other currencies.

Oil's gains were held in check by drooping stock markets and new reports that showed the economic recovery remained sluggish. New homes sales fell one per cent in June, according to the government. And U.S. consumer confidence improved a little in July but remained weak overall, according to a monthly survey by the Conference Board.

Benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude for September delivery rose 39 cents to settle at US$99.59 on the New York Mercantile Exchange. In London, Brent crude gained 34 cents to settle at US$118.28 per barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.

The uncertainty about what will happen with the U.S. debt ceiling and a possible default is making "some of the traders see-saw back and forth," said Michael Lynch, president of Strategic Energy & Economic Research.

He thinks that oil prices will drift in a narrow range, perhaps fall $1 a day until there is a resolution about the U.S. debt limit.

When a deal is completed, traders will pay more attention to supplies, demand and expectations for the economy through the rest of the year, he said.

Energy analyst Jim Ritterbusch also speculated that oil will climb above US$100 a barrel when an agreement is reached.

In other Nymex contracts for August, heating oil rose less than a cent to settle at US$3.1251 a U.S. gallon (3.79 litres), gasoline gained 1.68 cents to settle at US$3.0985 a gallon and natural gas fell 2.4 cents to settle at $4.331 per 1,000 cubic feet.

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