Oil rises to near $72 a barrel in Asia as Bernanke gives vote of confidence in US recovery

Oil rises to near $72 after Bernanke comments

SINGAPORE — Oil prices rose to near $72 a barrel Tuesday in Asia after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said he’s hopeful the world’s No. 1 economy won’t fall back into a “double dip” recession.

Benchmark crude for July delivery was up 31 cents to $71.75 a barrel at midday Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract lost 7 cents to settle at $71.44 on Monday.

All major Asian stock markets rose modestly Tuesday after Bernanke said he expected the U.S. economic recovery to continue. Bernanke spoke late Monday after the Dow Jones industrial average dropped 1.2 percent.

A rising euro, off recent 4-year lows, also helped support oil prices. The euro gained to $1.1963 on Tuesday from $1.1916 on Monday, making crude cheaper for investors holding the European currency.

Storms could disrupt oil operations in the Gulf of Mexico and boost prices as this year’s hurricane season starts this month.

“As soon as the dollar drops, equity markets recover and the hurricanes hit the Gulf of Mexico, we could see a perfect storm for higher crude oil prices,” energy consultancy the Schork Group said in a report.

In other Nymex trading in July contracts, heating oil rose 0.59 cent to $1.9742 a gallon and gasoline gained 0.71 cent to $2.0020 a gallon. Natural gas was up 5.5 cents at $4.971 per 1,000 cubic feet.

Brent crude was up 16 cents at $72.28 a barrel on the ICE futures exchange.