Oil also gets lift as pressure on BP raises doubts about offshore drilling By Nick Godt, MarketWatch NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Crude-oil futures rose nearly 1% Thursday as supportive comments from the European Central Bank eased concerns about the euro and growth in the region, and pressured the dollar. The shared currency gained after ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet said the bank will keep in place its bond-buying efforts to boost liquidity. Crude for July delivery recently gained 66 cents to stand at $75.04 a barrel. Given mounting concerns about the impact of Europe's debt crisis on the region's and global growth, the comments "saved the day" and brought back "appetite for risk," said Phil Flynn, vice president at futures trading and research firm PFGBest Research. Investors also embraced risk again, and sold dollars, after the U.S. government said jobless claims fell by 3,000 to 456,000 in the latest week. On Wednesday, crude rallied 3.3% after news that China's exports surged, the Energy Department reported a drop in U.S. inventories, and the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries maintained expectations for higher global oil demand for 2010. BP's oil spill impact According to PFG's Flynn, the backlash against BP Plc (BP 32.87, +3.67, +12.57%) over its massive ongoing oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is leading to mounting concern in the industry that curbs will be imposed on offshore drilling, also providing a support to prices. "There's a growing impact on the psychology of the market," he said. "It was already impacting longer-term futures but now it's at the short end of the curve. The leases on those oil rigs are expensive and with uncertainty over what will happen, some might get abandoned."

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