Oil prices up in Asia

Robust Chinese export data and a solid US jobs report helped boost prices

Oil prices rose in Asian trade today, boosted by robust Chinese export data and a solid US jobs report, analysts said.

US benchmark, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for July delivery, gained 11 cents to $102.77 a barrel in mid-morning trade, while Brent North Sea crude for July rose three cents to $108.64.

China's trade surplus surged in May, official data showed Sunday, as export growth accelerated sharply while imports saw a surprise fall.

Exports from the world's second biggest economy increased seven% to $195.47 billion year-on-year, while imports declined 1.6% to $159.55 billion. This resulted in a trade surplus of $35.92 billion, up 74.9% year on year.

"The weekend report comes as a quite unexpected surprise on the upside, underpinning the demand for commodities," Desmond Chua, an analyst at CMC Markets in Singapore, told AFP.

In Washington on Friday the Labor Department said the US economy added a net 217,000 jobs in May, in line with expectations and marking the fourth straight month above 200,000. The figures are the latest in a string of data out of the United States indicating a recovery is well on track.

Investors are keeping an eye on Ukraine after its new Western-friendly President Petro Poroshenko vowed to end the fighting with pro-Russia separatist rebels in the east.

Investors fear a full-blown conflict in the ex-Soviet state, a conduit for a quarter of European gas imports from Russia, will disrupt supplies and send energy prices soaring.