London: Oil rose to a fresh 18-month high on Tuesday, rallying for a sixth consecutive session as investors awaited oil inventory data out of the United States.
US crude for May delivery was up 12 cents to $86.74 (Dh318.5) a barrel by 1358 GMT, down from an intra-day peak of $87.09, the highest since October 2008. ICE Brent rose 19 cents to $86.07.
"The trading today is very technical, and it's going against the dollar," said independent oil analyst Olivier Jakob at Petromatrix in Switzerland.
The dollar gained nearly 0.6 per cent against a basket of currencies and traders turned bearish against the euro following reports that Greece would seek from $5 billion to $10 billion from US investors to help cover its borrowing requirements for May. A stronger dollar usually makes purchases of dollar-denominated commodities more expensive for non-US buyers.
Also buoying the dollar was data on Monday showing US services sector grew at its swiftest in nearly four years in March.
Oil market attention was expected to shift to inventory data due from the American Petroleum Institute and the US Department of Energy's Energy Information Administration.
