Oil rises in anticipation of stimulus plan

Oil prices increased after a week of falling crude prices on optimism that US President Barak ObamaÔÇÖs stimulus plan will revive the economy and demand. ┬á  "It looks like a bounce on stimulus hopes," said Tom Bentz at BNP Paribas Commodity Futures. ┬á US crude for March delivery rose $3.53 to $37.51 a barrel. Brent oil added $1.22 to $44.81 a barrel.┬á The House of Representatives has approved President Obama's revised emergency plan, including tax cuts and spending aimed at rescuing the US economy, and the Senate is expected to approve it at a later date. ┬á But analysts have questioned how much the oil price will benefit from it. ┬á The global slowdown has seen oil prices fall more than $110 off the highs seen in July last year and Opec forecasts that demand will fall by .67 percent in 2009. ┬á "World oil demand continues its steep decline from last year and is expected to follow this strong negative pattern at least for the first three quarters of the year," the oil producers' cartel said in its February report. ┬á The cartel said that oil demand in industrialized countries "is experiencing a steep decline resulting from the region's economic depression."┬á The Energy Information Administration reported a seventh consecutive weekly increase in nationwide crude oil stocks earlier this week as the economic crisis crushed business and consumer demand for fuel. ┬á Rising unemployment has led to further fears of weakening demand for oil among US consumers as new claims for unemployment benefit remain close to record highs, and as the US jobless rate rose to 7.6 percent in January, up from 7.2 percent in December. These figures are at the highest level since 1992, suggesting that the US recession is deepening.