AP -- Oil prices rose to just below $80 a barrel Monday after a three-week rally, as investors expect the U.S. central bank to keep interest rates near zero to help fuel economic growth -- which would boost crude consumption.

By early afternoon in Europe, benchmark crude for March delivery was up 10 cents to $79.91 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract added 75 cents to settle at $79.81 a barrel on Friday.

Prices were mimicking changes in the dollar's exchange rate. The dollar makes oil less attractive to investors holding other currencies when it strengthens and makes crude cheaper for them when it weakens.

The euro was up to $1.3610 from $1.3599 in late New York trading Friday, but below its session high of $1.3652, which was reflected in a peak oil price of $80.51.

Investors are betting that a low inflation rate and weak employment figures will lead the Federal Reserve to keep interest rates low.

Bloomberg -- Greece arranged swap agreements with about 15 securities firms, including some payments from banks that may have helped hide the country’s true deficit, according to a person with direct knowledge of the contracts.

The swaps that allowed Greece to receive payments upfront date from before 2008, when European Union regulators changed rules to limit the use of the contracts, said the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity. Goldman Sachs Group Inc., which provided Greece with about $1 billion in funding in a 2002 swap, may have arranged the biggest of the contracts, the person said.

The EU accounting watchdog ordered Greece last week to provide information on its swaps as it probes whether the country used derivatives to hide the extent of its budget deficit, and if other countries used them. Swaps are typically designed to help countries to manage their debt rather than generate cash, according to Cesare Conti, a business professor at Italy’s Bocconi University.