Brent oil to test $90 per barrel this week

Brent oil prices open the week's trading session slightly lower near $88 a barrel but market forces and US dollar weakness could see oil prices test the $90 mark for the first time in 2010, Live Oil Prices reports.

Oil prices staged their longest rally this year, extending gains into a seventh day in Asia Monday as a mini employment boom in the US and a second quantitative easing by the Fed pushed prices up, analysts said.

New York's main contract, light sweet crude for December delivery, rose 39 cents to 87.24 dollars a barrel. Brent North Sea crude for delivery in December gained 40 cents to 88.51 dollars, The Economic Times informs.

Futures reversed gains of as much as 0.7 percent in New York as the dollar's strength curbed investor demand for commodities. Hedge funds and other large speculators raised bullish bets on oil to the most since 2006 last week even before the Federal Reserve said it will extend its debt-buying program to boost the economy. U.S. payrolls increased more than forecast, a Labor Department report showed Nov. 5.

"Oil is quite positive; the market has taken heart in the unemployment rate," said Jonathan Barratt, managing director of Commodity Broking Services Pty in Sydney. "Crude has broken through the topside of the range, so you've got to look for higher prices," according to Bloomberg.