Oil prices rose above $53 in Asian trade today on hopes a global effort to lift the world economy out of recession would yield results.
New York's main futures contract, light sweet crude for delivery in May, gained 60 cents to $53.11 a barrel.
Brent North Sea crude for May delivery advanced 37 cents to $53.84.
"Investors believe that there will be cooperation to lift the world economy out of the recession (after the G20 summit)," said Tony Nunan, a risk management executive at Mitsubishi Corp in Tokyo.
"They are coming back into the market based on the belief that the economy is not as bad as it could have been."
US President Barack Obama and other leaders of the G20 rich and emerging economies agreed at a London summit last week on a raft of measures to pull the global economy out of its current crisis, including a huge funding programme.
However, other analysts cautioned that oil prices were unlikely to be supported at current levels as the global economies are still on a downturn and energy demand remains weak.
"We continue to believe that weak economic growth and slumping oil demand over the next few months will mean any rallies in the crude oil price will be unsustainable," said Deutsche Bank analyst Michael Lewis.
