NEW YORK, USA – Oil rose more than 5 percent yesterday on hopes that European leaders are closer to drafting a plan to contain the region’s debt crisis.

Investors are encouraged that another recession can be avoided and demand for energy products — from oil to diesel and gasoline — will improve if Greece does not default on its debt. Greece’s finance minister expects his country to receive the next round of bailout loans in time to avoid a default. German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that her country will do whatever it can to help Greece regain investor confidence.

Benchmark oil rose $4.21, or 5.3 percent, to finish at $84.45 per barrel in New York. Brent crude, which is used to price international varieties of oil, increased $3.20, or 3.1 percent, to $107.14 per barrel in London.

Stocks and commodities rose on the improving international picture. Gold broke a three-day slump and rose more than 4 percent. The Dow Jones industrial average, the Standard & Poor’s 500 index and the Nasdaq composite all rose more than 2 per cent.

Crude oil has fallen about 15 percent since July and is down 26 percent since hitting a high for the year of US$113.93 per barrel on April 29.

“Worries about the economy are what drove prices down, and if things are going to stabilize and look more positive, then the belief is that demand is going to recover,” said Tom Bentz, an analyst at BNP Paribas Commodity Futures. “We just follow what the economy is doing these days.”

Andrew Lebow, MF Global senior vice president, said oil could start to fall again on any negative sign about the economy. “It’s hard to say that this is really on very firm footing,” he said.

In other energy trading, heating oil rose 8.27 cents, or 3 per cent, to finish at US$2.89 per gallon, gasoline futures rose 10.76 cents, or 4.3 per cent, to end at US$2.6360 per gallon and natural gas was up three cents to finish the day at US$3.875 per 1,000 cubic feet.

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