Oil prices climb amid spending cuts, weaker dollar

Oil prices jumped on Thursday as more producers lower spending and a weaker dollar encouraged buying.

France-based oil company Total SA announced on Thursday that it would reduce investment to 23-to-24 billion U.S. dollars from last year's 26 billion U.S. dollars and lower the budget for exploration by 30 percent to less than 1.9 billion U.S. dollars this year. Apache Corporation also said it would cut its rig count by 70 percent.

The two companies were among a list of energy giants planning to slash investment this year as lower crude prices bite into group profits.

Crude prices rose for the first time in three days after the announcements. According to market analysts, investors viewed these rig count drops as a sign for lower production in the future.

Oil prices were further supported by a weaker dollar on Thursday. The greenback declined against other major currencies as the economic data from the country came out negative. The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major currencies, was down 0.94 percent at 94.092 in late trading. The drop spurred buying of dollar-priced commodities such as oil.

Light, sweet crude for November delivery moved up 2.37 U.S. dollars to settle at 51.21 U.S. dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude for December delivery rose 2.39 U.S. dollars to close at 57.05 dollars a barrel.