Oil prices rose above US$83 a barrel on Tuesday in Asia as panic selling over a global financial crisis eased after the U.S. and Europe pledged to pump capital into ailing banks, Associated Press reported. Light, sweet crude for November delivery was up US$2.38 to US$83.57 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange by midday in Singapore. The contract rose overnight $3.49 to settle at $81.19. Investors have cheered signs that the U.S. and European governments plan to inject capital into major banks. Tokyo's benchmark Nikkei 225 index jumped 13 percent Tuesday after the Dow Jones industrial average on Monday gained more than 11 percent, its biggest one-day rally since 1933. The U.S. plans to spend an initial $250 billion of a $700 billion bailout buying stock in private banks, industry and government officials said Monday night. President George W. Bush planned to announce the details later Tuesday. That followed signals that European governments were putting up about $2 trillion to safeguard their own banks. In other Nymex trading, heating oil futures rose 3.84 cents to US$2.38 a gallon, while gasoline prices gained 5.29 cents to US$1.97 a gallon. Natural gas for November delivery rose 10.1 cents to US$6.79 per 1,000 cubic feet (28 cubic meters). In London, November Brent crude rose US$1.92 to US$79.38 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.
