New York oil prices surged to a nine-month high Monday sparked by Middle East worries before pulling back to end flat for the day. With Syria dominating the start of the Group of Eight (G8) meeting of world leaders in Northern Ireland, the oil market was volatile. At the end of New York trade, the main contract, West Texas Intermediate crude for delivery in August, reached $98.74 per barrel, a level last seen in September 2012, before easing back to $97.77, down 8 cents from Friday's close.

Asian markets rose Monday, with the greenback climbing higher as a moderate set of jobs figures eased concerns the US Federal Reserve will soon start to row back on its huge monetary easing scheme. However, buying sentiment was tempered by another set of weak trade data out of China that adds to concerns of a slowdown in the world's number two economy. Tokyo rallied 3.01 percent by the break as the dollar clawed back some of last week's losses against the yen, while Hong Kong edged up 0.26 percent and Seoul added 0.27 percent.

Oil prices rose on Asian trade on Friday as dealers made the most of a weakening dollar as they keep an eye on the release of crucial US jobs data later in the day, analysts said. New York's main contract, West Texas Intermediate crude for delivery in July, gained 15 cents to $94.91 a barrel in the afternoon and Brent North Sea crude for July added 18 cents to $103.79. "The decline in the US dollar is giving support to oil prices," Ric Spooner, chief market analyst at CMC Markets in Sydney, told AFP.

Oil prices recovered in Asian trade Thursday following a drop triggered by fresh economic data that highlighted global growth concerns, analysts said. New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in July added eight cents to $93.21 a barrel in the afternoon and Brent North Sea crude for July delivery increased 29 cents to $102.72. Both contracts closed almost $2 lower on Wednesday after the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, which groups industrial economies, trimmed its forecast for 2013 world economic growth to 3.1 percent from 3.4 percent.