Oil Hits 2009 High Before Falling Back

New York, NY, Oct. 19, 2009--Oil prices jumped above $79 a barrel to a 2009 high Monday before falling back.

By midday in Europe, benchmark crude for November delivery was down 15 cents at $78.38 in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Earlier in the session, it rose as high as $79.05. The contract added 95 cents to settle at $78.53 on Friday.

Last week, crude broke out of a five-month trading range between $65 and $75 a barrel on a weakening U.S. dollar and expectations that oil demand will eventually recover as the global economy grows next year. A growing economy increases demand for energy.

"The move from $75 to $78 has been done ... without any real fundamental development," said Olivier Jakob of Petromatrix in Switzerland. "This is a very technical market and technical markets fall as fast as they rise."