AAJ TV : Pakistan Ki Awaz

LONDON : Oil prices rose on Monday after a massive selloff last week triggered by weak US jobs data and debt woes in the eurozone, traders said.

New York's main futures contract, light sweet crude for delivery in March, climbed 40 cents to 71.59 dollars a barrel at 1145 GMT.

Brent North Sea crude for March gained 39 cents to 69.98 dollars a barrel.

"What we're seeing is a technical rebound. Investors are taking the opportunity to buy into the market after the massive selloff last week," said ANZ bank analyst Serene Lim.

The markets digested news published Friday showing the US economy lost 20,000 jobs in January.

The non-farm payrolls data fell short of expectations for a gain of 15,000 jobs that would have been a clear sign of a turnaround in the troubled labour market and overall economy after a massive stimulus effort by the government.

The report showed the jobless rate eased to 9.7 percent from 10.0 percent in December, based on a household survey that appeared to contradict the payrolls data, but partly reflected how discouraged workers are leaving the labour force.

Sentiment was also hit by concerns that debt-ridden countries such as Greece, Spain and Portugal may be unable to restore stability to their public finances after having spent heavily to combat recession.

Shell oil company has meanwhile denied a claim by Nigerian militants that they had attacked a major Shell pipeline in Nigeria's volatile Niger Delta, a company spokesman said on Sunday.

A group called the Joint Revolutionary Council (JRC) said in a statement that it had on Saturday attacked and "successfully disabled the trunk line belonging to Shell in the swamp of Obunoma" in oil-rich Rivers State.

But Shell spokesman Precious Okolobo told AFP: "We have no report of any attack in that area."

The JRC also said in its statement it was "reinvigorated as a result of series of consultations with patriotic groups in our territory."

The main militant Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) announced last week it was calling off a three-month-old truce with the government.

A key demand of the militants is that local communities benefit from the region's oil wealth.

Oil is Nigeria's economic mainstay, raking in some 95 percent of export earnings and accounting for about 85 percent of budget requirements for the OPEC member country.

Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2010