World oil prices rose strongly on Thursday as the euro gained on hopes Greece's debt swap would be successful, with tensions over Iran also supporting the crude market, analysts said.

New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in April, added 42 cents to settle at $106.58 a barrel.

Brent North Sea crude for April closed up $1.32 to $125.44 a barrel in London trade.

As the crude markets were closing Greece had racked up enough commitments from private creditors to support the debt-swap deal, which involves a 107 billion euro ($140 billion) writedown of the country's debt.

More than 75 percent of private holders of Greek debt -- the minimum threshold -- had indicated they plan to participate in the debt swap, a government source said hours ahead of the 2000 GMT deadline for the deal.

"Crude oil prices extended gains, as the euro rebounded strongly above $1.32 amid hopes for a positive result" in the Greek debt deal, said Sucden analyst Myrto Sokou.

"The Asian and European equity markets posted fresh gains while most commodity prices... climbed higher."

The weaker greenback makes dollar-priced crude cheaper for buyers using stronger currencies, thereby stimulating demand.

Meanwhile ExxonMobil said it expected that its production would drop three percent in 2012, but that its longer-term goal of boosting production by one percent annually through 2016 would not be impacted.

The oil giant said it would be spending $37 billion a year on investment through then as well.

"An unprecedented level of investment will be needed to develop new energy technologies to expand supply of traditional fuels and advance new energy sources," said chief executive Rex Tillerson.

"We are developing a diverse portfolio of high-quality opportunities across all resource types and geographies."