LONDON: Oil prices rose on Tuesday, with Brent reaching a near eight-month high on unrest in Africa's biggest crude producer Nigeria as well as owing to dollar weakness.
Benchmark oil Brent North Sea crude reached $51.08 a barrel, the highest level since October 12.
Around 1120 GMT, Brent for delivery in August was slightly off the high at $51.04 but still a rise of 49 cents compared with Monday's close.
US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for July delivery gained 41 cents to $50.10 a barrel.
"The loss of supply from Nigeria is highly important on several accounts," said Bjarne Schieldrop, chief analyst at Commodities SEB Markets.
"For one it of course helps to tighten up the market. Secondly Nigeria's crude is light and sweet and thus of a comparable quality to Brent crude."
Nigeria's junior oil minister Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu said late Monday that his country is planning peace talks with militants in the oil-producing south to end attacks that have slashed output to 1.6 million barrels per day, well below the budgeted-for 2.2 million bpd.
Oil prices have rebounded about 90 percent of their value from near 13-year lows touched at the start of the year, as worries over a global supply glut eases on sliding output in key producers Nigeria and Canada.
Meanwhile a cheaper dollar in the wake of last Friday's poor US jobs report is making crude cheaper for buyers holding other currencies, pushing up demand.
Crude has won support in recent weeks also from the fallout of wildfires in Canada's oil region -- offsetting OPEC's refusal last week to agree limits to its members' output.
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