NEW YORK (Reuters) – Oil prices rose nearly 4 percent to top $77 a barrel on Tuesday, gaining for the second session on optimism about economic recovery and weakness in the dollar.

U.S. crude oil futures settled at $77.23 a barrel, up $2.80 or 3.76 percent, the largest percentage gain since September 30, when prices gained 5.8 percent.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Oil prices rose to $75 a barrel on Monday as support from a weaker dollar, higher U.S. stocks, and an oil spill in Texas which limited crude oil deliveries to some U.S. refiners.

Still, oil prices were still near a one-month low of $74 a barrel after having fallen by almost $10 a barrel over the last two weeks since hitting a 15-month peak of $83.95 on January 11.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Oil prices dipped on Wednesday, pressured by rising U.S. product inventories builds due to ongoing weak demand in the world’s top oil consumer.

The U.S. Federal Reserve’s decision to hold interest rates near zero also weighed on prices as it pulled the U.S. dollar higher and led Wall Street lower.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Oil prices rose to $75 a barrel on Monday as support from a weaker dollar, higher U.S. stocks, and an oil spill in Texas which limited crude oil deliveries to some U.S. refiners.

Still, oil prices were still near a one-month low of $74 a barrel after having fallen by almost $10 a barrel over the last two weeks since hitting a 15-month peak of $83.95 on January 11.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – The last time refining maverick Tom O’Malley bought the oil refinery in Delaware City, Delaware, he doubled his money in two years.

Now he may be vying to do it again.

An investment group led by O’Malley is in talks with Valero Energy Corp <VLO.N>, the top independent U.S. refiner, to buy the assets of the shuttered 210,000-barrel-per-day Delaware City refinery.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. federal climate legislation may still pass this year even though a Republican who opposes the bill won a seat in the Senate this week, a carbon markets executive said on Thursday.

“Our view is that it’s not dead,” Abyd Karmali, managing director and global head of carbon emissions at Bank of America-Merrill Lynch, told Reuters in an interview.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Oil rose above $79 a barrel on Tuesday after five sessions of losses as gains in the U.S. stock market boosted prices, outweighing earlier pressure from mild weather and the stronger greenback.

U.S. crude settled at $79.02 a barrel, up $1.02 from Friday’s settlement. The New York Mercantile Exchange was closed on Monday for the Martin Luther King Day holiday.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Oil prices fell for the fifth straight day on Friday, settling at $78 per barrel as expectations for reduced heating demand in the United States, a stronger dollar and high oil inventories pressured prices.

Mild weather this week has reduced forecasts for fuel consumption, particularly in the United States, the world’s top oil consumer, after a cold snap in many parts of the Northern Hemisphere helped push prices above $80 earlier in January.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Oil rose nearly 2 percent to top $78 a barrel for the first time in three weeks on Thursday, buoyed by economic optimism that sent Wall Street to a 2009 high.

Oil was also supported by data showing lower U.S. crude oil inventories, traders said.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Oil rose more than 3 percent to above $76 a barrel on Wednesday in the biggest one-day percentage gain in about five weeks after U.S. inventory data showed crude oil inventories in the world’s top energy consumer fell more than expected.

Commercial crude oil stockpiles fell 4.9 million barrels to 327.5 million barrels last week, according to weekly inventory data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, far exceeding the 900,000-barrel drop forecast by analysts.