Thursday, September 15, 2011

UPDATE 4-Oil up over $114, equity rally supports | Reuters

LONDON, Sept 15 (Reuters) - Oil traded at over $114 on Thursday, up over $2, buoyed by a rally in European equities, a weaker dollar, and an improvement in risk appetite after euro zone leaders reiterated their commitment to keeping Greece afloat.

Brent crude LCOc1 for October, which expires today, was up $2.12 cents at $114.52 by 1012 GMT. The November contract LCOc2 was up $2.15 cents at $111.80. U.S. crude CLc1 was up 30 cents to $89.21 a barrel.

Volatility in Brent has been accentuated by the imminent expiry of the October contract, with the liquidity all in the November contract, but analysts and traders have expressed surprise that oil has rallied so strongly given recent bearish newsflow.

"With the euro debt crisis back on centre stage, one thing is sure to follow: volatility," said Thorbjorn Bak Jensen, oil analyst at Global Risk Management.

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