Oil rose for a third day in New York as Libyan output fell and on speculation that the U.S. Federal Reserve will maintain the pace of stimulus. Brent oil headed for the biggest gain in more than two weeks.

West Texas Intermediate advanced as much as 1 percent after state-run National Oil Corp. said crude production in Libya, holder of Africa’s largest reserves, declined to about 250,000 barrels a day because of labor protests. The Federal Open Market Committee, starting a two-day meeting tomorrow, is likely to delay reducing, or “tapering,” monthly bond purchases until March, according to a Bloomberg survey of economists. Brent rose as much as 2.2 percent.

WTI for December delivery gained 59 cents, or 0.6 percent, to $98.44 a barrel at 11:34 a.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Futures touched $95.95 Oct. 24, the lowest intraday level since June 27. The volume of all futures traded was 27 percent below the 100-day average.

Brent oil for December settlement rose $2.09, or 2 percent, to $109.02 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. Volume was 4.5 percent higher than the 100-day average. The European benchmark crude traded at a $10.58 premium to WTI, up from $9.08 on Oct. 25. The spread widened to $13.37 on Oct. 23, the most in six months on an intraday basis.

Gold prices rose to a five-week high as traders expect the Fed maintaining stimulus measures at a meeting this week.

From the beginning, gold fell by nearly 20 percent, as investors prefer higher yielding stocks and fear that the precious metal will lose appeal as a hedge against inflation , if the Fed will reduce the incentive program . Over the last two weeks gold rose by 6 per cent as the weak U.S. economic indicators may keep the Fed from cutting incentives. The Central Bank will hold a monthly meeting on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Traders are also watching demand in the physical market of Asia, where consumption fell after a sharp rise at the beginning of the year.

Premiums in India last week rose to a record $ 130 per ounce to the price in London , as the government imposed restrictions on the import of gold caused the deficit on the eve of the holiday season in early November.

Surcharges on the Shanghai Gold Exchange in relation to London prices turned negative on Monday , and then went up to $ 1 per ounce , compared with $ 30 in April and May.

The cost of the December gold futures on COMEX today rose to $ 1361.80 per ounce.