Oil prices gain for 4th straight session WORLD oil prices have pushed higher for the fourth straight session after reversing an early sell-off chalked up to profit-taking. New York's main contract, WTI light sweet crude for June delivery, added 69 cents from Friday's close to $US96.71 ($A99.63) a barrel on Monday. Brent North Sea crude for delivery in July gained 16 cents to $US104.80 a barrel in London. "It is a very quiet day in the markets due to holidays across several European countries while economic data is non-existent," said analyst Fawad Razaqzada at trading group GFT Markets. This means crude oil is driven more by technical buying and selling rather than the fundamentals today, he said. Profit-taking is also playing a key part especially after the sharp rally we saw in the second half of last week. Thus it is hardly surprising that we are seeing prices fall today. Crude futures surged late last week. This followed a better-than-expected reading on US consumer confidence which boosted hopes for stronger energy demand in the world's biggest economy. The improvement also sent Wall Street to new record highs on Friday.