Crude Snaps Losing Streak

Oil futures finally climbed higher on Monday, snapping a six-day skid, as investors bid up equities across the globe. Traders embraced risk for what feels like the first day in weeks on some cooperative news out of Europe, another factor that doesn't come along very often these days. NYMEX-traded crude for June delivery gained $1.09, or 1.2%, to settle at $92.57 a barrel. In London, Brent crude for June delivery added $1.67, or 1.6%, to close at $108.81 a barrel. A weaker dollar helped the cause as the PowerShares DB US Dollar Index Bullish (NYSE: UUP) closed modestly lower on the day. Oil was bid higher after the Group of Eight meeting where the leading industrialized nations said that Greece wants to remain part of the Euro Zone. That notion appeared to gain new life as conservative candidates made headway in recent polls in Greece, indicating there is still hope for the country to form a coalition government and meet the austerity criteria set forth by European policymakers.

Oil futures have fallen 12% this month, forcing traders to ponder the reality of a test of support at $85 per barrel. Comments from Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao were also supportive of oil's gains. Wen called for more efforts to stimulate growth, perhaps indicating Beijing's willingness to take action after several recent economic indicators suggested that the economy could continue to slow, Reuters reported. China is the world's second-largest oil consumer behind the U.S.

U.S. June oil futures are heading towards expiration and that might be the key reason volume was well below the daily average on Monday, but at this point, it's fair to say oil bulls will take the gains where they can get them.

A triple-digit gain for the Dow Jones Industrial Average helped propel Chevron (NYSE: CVX) to a gain of 1.25% while Exxon Mobil (NYSE: XOM) added 0.7%. Some of the beaten down independents nicely participated in Monday's rally as Anadarko Petroleum (NYSE: APC) and Apache (NYSE: APA) each added almost 3%. EOG Resources (NYSE: EOG) surged more than 4%.

In international news, Bangladesh has discovered oil in two old gas fields in the country's northeastern region with an extractable reserve worth $5.5 billion, the AFP reported, citing the chairman of state-owned Petrobangla. It's too soon to tell if Western oil majors will help the poverty-stricken country tap these reserves, but several U.S. and European oil firms do have small presences there.

Embattled Iran, OPEC's second-largest producer behind Saudi Arabia, said it plans to raise output by 1.5 million barrels per day by 2016. Iran produced almost 3.6 million barrels per day last month, according to OPEC statistics.