FB: Oil above $91 as traders eye Greece austerity vote
Oil prices rose above $91 a barrel Tuesday as investors prepared for a Greek parliamentary vote on a new austerity plan needed for the country to receive its rescue funds and avert a debt default.
The main vote is scheduled for Wednesday, but protests and strikes have hit the country already and the struggling government has only a slim majority.
By early afternoon in Europe, benchmark oil for August delivery was up 69 cents to $91.30 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Crude fell 55 cents to settle at $90.61 on Monday.
In London, Brent crude for August delivery was up $1.32 to $107.11 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.
Greek lawmakers will vote Wednesday and Thursday on a $40 billion austerity plan, government spending cuts that European officials say are a necessary condition to receive the next installment of Greece's $156 billion bailout loan from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund.
If Greece rejects the cuts, it could lead to a debt default and spread instability in other financially troubled European countries.
