Oil climbed, heading for a second quarterly gain, after euro-area finance ministers agreed to boost rescue funds and as U.S. personal spending increased more than forecast. Futures rose as much as 0.9 percent and the dollar dropped as European governments capped fresh rescue lending at 500 billion euros ($666 billion). U.S. consumer purchases rose 0.8 percent in February, the Commerce Department said. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg News called for a 0.6 percent increase. “The oil price rise today coincided with the dollar’s move lower,� said Tom Bentz, a director with BNP Paribas Prime Brokerage Inc. in New York. “The U.S. economic data this morning gave the market a bit of a boost.� Crude oil for May delivery rose 12 cents to $102.90 a barrel at 9:29 a.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices are up 4.1 percent for the quarter after a gain of 25 percent in the last quarter of 2011. Prices fell 2.5 percent yesterday, the biggest drop since December, and are down 3.2 percent this week after U.S. stockpiles climbed to the highest level since August and Western countries discussed tapping emergency reserves. Brent oil for May settlement gained 22 cents to $122.61 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. The European benchmark contract’s premium to New York-traded West Texas Intermediate oil was at $19.71, compared with yesterday’s close of $19.61, the widest gap in five months. The total size of the European firewall was brought to 800 billion euros, according to a statement after a meeting in Copenhagen today. Efforts to raise the firewall will succeed in tempering the debt crisis, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said yesterday. The dollar dropped as much as 0.6 percent against the common currency. A weaker dollar euro and stronger euro dollar boost oil’s appeal as an investment alternative. To contact the reporter on this story: Mark Shenk in New York at mshenk1@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Dan Stets at dstets@bloomberg.net

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