Oil rose to near $133 US a barrel Monday in Asia on persistent worries about global petroleum supplies and the outlook for the U.S. dollar.

The dollar had weakened over the past week after a modest recovery, and investors will be watching economic data out of the United States over the next few days for further clues about the world's biggest economy.

"The dollar's been swinging down again," said Mark Pervan, senior commodity strategist at Australia & New Zealand Bank in Melbourne, and this is "going to sway sentiment."

Oil and other hard commodities are seen as hedges against a weakening greenback and inflation. Also, a weak dollar, the currency of international oil trade, makes petroleum less expensive to Asian and European buyers.

This week, investors will be watching for what implications U.S. consumer confidence, new home sales, gross domestic product and other economic data might have for the dollar and oil prices, Pervan said.

"It's a pretty price-sensitive week for economic data," Pervan said. "The data we're seeing out of the U.S. at the moment looks pretty weak. You'd expect that trend to continue, pushing further down on the dollar."

Light sweet crude for July delivery was up 76 cents US at $132.95 US a barrel in electronic trade on the New York Mercantile Exchange. New York Mercantile Exchange floor trading is closed Monday for Memorial Day.

Prices got a boost when militants in Nigeria claimed they destroyed a Royal Dutch Shell PLC joint-venture oil pipeline and killed 11 soldiers. Nigeria is Africa's largest oil producer and a major supplier to the U.S. market.

Last week, a series of supply warnings rattled markets, and on Thursday a report that the International Energy Agency will lower its forecast of long-term global oil supply sent crude futures rocketing to an all-time high of $135.09 US a barrel.

Investors are also worried about a growing squeeze on global diesel supplies as demand in China surges. Over the weekend, China's top economic planning agency again urged oil and power companies to make sure there are enough supplies for earthquake-hit areas and for the Beijing Olympics in August.

"They certainly want to have a buffer of supply ... so there's pressure on the upside from demand in Asia," Pervan said.

The U.S. driving season officially began with the Memorial Day long weekend, and even if American demand for gasoline and diesel is lower than a year ago, it will still be stronger than it has been in recent month, he added.