LONDON, Sept 18: Oil prices rose sharply for a second day running on Thursday, bouncing above $102, as the US currency fell after major central banks massively boosted liquidity on financial markets.

But large gains of about $5 were soon wiped out and crude futures were left showing small losses in late trade.New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in October, hit an intra-day high of $102.24 a barrel. However it later stood at $96.98, down 18 cents on Wednesday’s close.

London’s Brent North Sea crude for November dipped 27 cents to $94.57 after having got above $99 earlier on Thursday.

The US Federal Reserve in joint action with other central banks poured more than $300 billion into the money markets earlier on Thursday in an effort to pin back a growing global credit crisis.

Oil prices had jumped about $6 on Wednesday after the US government’s lifeline to insurance giant AIG failed to reassure skittish traders and prompted a rush into commodities as a safe haven from the financial market storm.

“The market got oversold a couple of days ago reacting to all this bad financial news,” Victor Shum of international energy consultancy Purvin and Gertz in Singapore said on Thursday.

“We are bound to see a lot of volatility in oil.”

Shum said oil prices had also received some support from a reduction in production and refining after hurricanes recently hit the Gulf of Mexico.—AFP