VENTURE CAPITAL POST

Oil rose 3 percent on Tuesday, the most in three weeks, as a weak dollar lifted commodities denominated in the currency and OPEC raised slightly its forecast for world oil demand growth.

Oil prices tumbled 3 percent on Thursday as a resurgent dollar erased gains from the past two sessions, setting the market up for its first weekly loss in five.

Oil prices hit their highest for the year on Tuesday, aided by a disruption in Libyan crude exports, higher selling prices for Saudi oil and a weaker dollar that tends to inflate commodity prices.

Oil prices eased off 2015 highs on Friday after Iraq said its crude oil exports hit a record in April, and on pressure from a stronger dollar.

Lawmakers in the House of Representatives who are trying to end the decades-old ban on U.S. crude oil exports said on Thursday they were gaining support after a Democrat joined the Republican-led effort. Representative Henry Cuellar became the first Democrat to sign on to a bill launched in February by Representative Joe Barton, a Republican and fellow Texan.

Stock markets worldwide posted a second straight session of losses on Thursday after more weak earnings reports, with all three major U.S. indexes plunging more than 1 percent.

U.S. crude oil hit a five-month high on Thursday as the dollar slipped to its lowest since February and as more evidence emerged of a gradual balancing of the U.S. domestic market.

World shares shuffled away from all-time highs on Tuesday as surging Chinese stocks took a breather and investors began to retreat to the sidelines ahead of the Federal Reserve's policy meeting.

Brent crude prices held near a 4-1/2 month high above $65 a barrel on Monday, supported by concerns about fighting in Yemen disrupting Middle East supplies and signs that U.S. shale output may have started to decline.

Crude oil prices settled up 3 percent on Thursday, hitting 2015 highs, while U.S. gasoline reached 5-month peaks after Saudi Arabia and its allies maintained a bombing blitz in Yemen that heightened concerns about the security of Middle East oil supplies.

Oil prices extended declines from the previous session on Wednesday as tensions in the Middle East eased after Saudi Arabia ended an air strike campaign in Yemen, but industry leaders said the market could rebound as attention turned to rising demand.

Major U.S. stock indexes lost ground on lackluster earnings reports on Tuesday, while oil fell on concerns about U.S. crude stockpiles and Saudi Arabia's announcement that it ended its military campaign in Yemen.

Oil prices ended in positive territory on Monday after a drop in stockpiles at the delivery point for U.S. crude in the second half of last week outweighed pressure from near record high production in Saudi Arabia.

Crude futures fell from 2015 peaks in choppy trading on Friday, but Brent's 9.6 percent weekly gain was its biggest in more than five years as Middle East turmoil and signs of lower U.S. production lifted prices.

Oil rose more than 3 percent on Thursday, pushing Brent crude to a 2015 high above $63 per barrel on increasing evidence that U.S. production is peaking, balancing a market that has been in heavy oversupply for more than a year.