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

Oil rises above $72 after Bernanke comments

SINGAPORE — Oil prices rose above $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 62 cents to $72.06 a barrel at late afternoon 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 $1.1962 on Tuesday from $1.1916 on Monday, making crude cheaper for investors holding the European currency.

Analysts expect 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 1.31 cents to $1.9814 a gallon and gasoline gained 1.27 cents to $2.0076 a gallon. Natural gas was up 1.8 cents at $4.934 per 1,000 cubic feet.

Brent crude was up 44 cents at $72.56 a barrel on the ICE futures exchange.