LONDON: Brent crude oil rose towards $102 a barrel on Monday supported by Chinese trade data highlighting strong demand for raw materials in the world's second-largest oil consumer.
Investors were also keeping an eye on Egypt's political transition following the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak and its potential spill over effects in the Middle East and North Africa, source of more than a third of the world's oil.
"We're staying up because of the continued risk of further unrest in the Middle East," said Christopher Bellew, a broker at Bache Commodities in London, adding Chinese trade data was also supportive.
Brent crude, the benchmark in Europe, Africa and the Middle East, for April was up 91 cents to $101.85 at 1113 GMT. The events in Egypt helped push Brent above $100 at the end of last month for the first time since 2008.
U.S. crude, also known as West Texas Intermediate or WTI, for March was up 12 cents to $85.70. It fell as low as $85.10 on Friday, the lowest intraday price in 10 weeks.
The premium of Brent to U.S. crude reached a record $16.24 on Friday, the last day of trading for the March Brent contract. The spread between the April contracts was around $12 on Monday.
U.S. crude has been weighed down by near-record inventories at the Cushing, Oklahoma delivery point for U.S. crude futures, while a steady fall in North Sea supplies -- the physical basis for the Brent contract - has supported the European marker.
"The crude market has shifted focus back to fundamentals. WTI was anchored by record crude supplies in Cushing, while tightness in the North Sea market provided support to Brent prices," Mark Pervan, head of Commodity Research at ANZ Bank, said in a report.
RISK PREMIUM
China's trade surplus fell to its lowest in nine months in January. Crude oil imports rose 27 percent from a year ago to the fourth highest on record.
"Support is coming today from China's import data," said analysts at Commerzbank in a report.
"There is still a risk that the wave of protests could spread to other countries of the region, so the risk premium on oil prices should remain, at least in part."
In Egypt, the military delivered an ultimatum on Monday to dozens of committed protesters in Tahrir Square to leave and let life get back to normal or face arrest.
Key data for investors this week include Chinese January inflation figures for release on Tuesday. Traders said consumer prices may have risen 4.9 percent in the year to January, below the consensus forecast of 5.3 percent.
European shares rose to a 29-month high as the talk of slower-than-expected Chinese inflation data and the strong China trade figures boosted sentiment.
The euro fell to a three-week low versus the dollar on Monday.
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