NEW YORK: Oil prices climbed Friday amid optimism that struggling Cyprus would secure a last-minute bailout deal and that growth in the US economy was picking up.
New York's main contract, West Texas Intermediate for May delivery, closed at $93.71 a barrel, a gain of $1.26 from Thursday's close.
The European benchmark, Brent North Sea crude for delivery in May, rose 19 cents to $107.66 a barrel in London.
The New York oil market moved higher along with equities as investors kept an eye trained on the Cyprus crisis as the country races to clinch an EU-IMF rescue deal by Monday to keep its banking system from collapse.
"We are fairly optimistic that a deal is going to get done over the weekend," said Phil Flynn of Price Futures Group.
GFT Markets analyst Fawad Razaqzada said that prices "jumped on reports that Cyprus may have a deal within hours, while news that Greece has agreed to take over units of Cypriot banks also helped the cause."
Although there was no economic data for the US, traders were upbeat about prospects for growth after a generally positive run of indicators and gains on Wall Street.
"The market seems to be suggesting that the economy in the US is improving," Flynn said.
<Center><b><i>Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2013</b></i></center>
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