Oil prices continue rising to near $82 (AP) (08-03-2010)

Oil prices headed higher toward $82 a barrel Monday, extending gains from last week amid signs the global economy may be improving.

By early afternoon in Europe, benchmark crude for April delivery was up 43 cents to $81.93 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Earlier in the session, it peaked at $82.41. The contract rose $1.29 to settle at $81.50 on Friday.

Some analysts, however, said that the current rise in prices was driven by technical factors such as investors' positions in the market, not a real rise in oil consumption.

In other Nymex trading in April contracts, heating oil rose 0.83 cent to $2.1057 a gallon, and gasoline gained 0.78 cent to $2.2788 a gallon. Natural gas was down 8.4 cents at $4.509 per 1,000 cubic feet.

In London, Brent crude was up 58 cents at $80.47 on the ICE futures exchange.

Source: AP