Oil prices rose past $84 a barrel for the first time in five months, as the U.S. dollar slid on expected monetary easing and a French oil port strike weighed on supplies.
The dollar fell on the anticipated flowing of new dollars into the economy, trigging a flow of money into oil and other commodities, reports said Thursday, causing the dollar to strike a 15-year low against the yen.
"It's still the same story -- purely driven by financial markets, particularly the falling U.S. dollar which pushes up commodity prices in dollar terms across the board," Carsten Fritsch, analyst at Commerzbank in Frankfurt, told Reuters.
American crude for November delivery rose 72 cents to $83.95, but had traded as high as $84.43 on the day.
A weaker dollar lead to another jump in gold prices, as well as other base metals.
