Oil climbs to new 2009 high

By midday,oil was trading at USD 73.91,topping the previous annual high of USD 73.23 set on June 11.

Oil started climbing early in the morning after financial information company Markit said its composite purchasing managers’ index showed the European economy was stabilizing.

“If Europe’s coming out of recession,the euro could get even stronger,” analyst Phil Flynn said.

“That means more demand for oil.”

And the dollar did fall against the euro to end the week,effectively making dollar-based oil cheaper across the globe.

That created its own momentum and drew a lot of investor money into crude,meaning the price for gasoline and other fuels will likely move up as well.

US gasoline prices have flattened and few expect a major run on prices as the driving season winds down.

Retail gas prices were almost unchanged,rising a hundredth of a cent to a new national average of USD 2.625 a gallon,according to auto club AAA,Wright Express and Oil Price Information Service.