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Singapore - Oil prices rose in Asian trade on Wednesday on a weaker dollar and positive economic data from major crude consumers China, the United States and Germany, analysts said.
New York's main contract, West Texas Intermediate crude for delivery in February, gained 66c to $101.37 in the afternoon.
Brent North Sea crude for March delivery was up 50c to $112.03.
However, Phillip Futures said in a commentary that "concerns about Europe's economy after last week's credit downgrade (of nine European nations) limited gains".
The euro was trading higher against the US dollar at $1.2781 in Asian trade from $1.2737 in New York late on Tuesday.
A weaker greenback makes dollar-priced crude more attractive to traders using other currencies, boosting demand and pushing up prices.
Meanwhile, official data on Tuesday showed China's economy growing 8.9% in the last quarter of 2011, higher than analyst expectations of 8.6% although it was lower than in the previous three months.
In the US, sentiment was also boosted by the Federal Reserve's Empire State index of manufacturing activity in New York, which showed a pick-up in January that exceeded expectations.
The United States is the world's largest oil consumer while China is the global leader in energy consumption.
Traders were also heartened by the ZEW think tank's expectations index, which showed German investor confidence rose sharply in recent weeks and suggested Europe's top economy remains resilient to the eurozone debt crisis.
But traders were closely monitoring the situation in the eurozone after Standard & Poor's cut the ratings of nine member countries last week and that of the European Financial Stability Facility rescue fund this week.
