NEW YORK, March 19 (Xinhua) -- Crude oil prices jumped more than 7 percent to close above 51 U.S. dollars a barrel on Thursday on a slide in dollar.

    Light, sweet crude for April delivery gained 3.47 dollars to settle at 51.61 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Futures rose to as high as 52.25 dollars during the trading, marking both highest closing and intraday prices in 2009.

    The main drive of oil's rally is a weakening dollar against euro and other major currencies. The U.S. Federal Reserve announced on Wednesday afternoon that it would pump more than one trillion U.S. dollars into the economy, including the purchase of 300 billion dollars of long-term Treasury bonds and 750 billion dollars of mortgage-backed securities. The Fed decision has sent dollar tumbling, which prompted investors to turn to crude and other commodities.

    In London, Brent crude for May delivery rose 3.01 dollars to settle at 50.67 dollars on the ICE Futures Exchange.