Oil Dips Following Increases

Oil prices fell Thursday following 10 days of gains, slipping almost $1 to $82.26 a barrel in early trading, Bloomberg reported.

Futures rose $1.41 on the New York Mercantile Exchange Wednesday to close at $83.18, the first time they had closed over $83 since Oct. 9, 2008.

Crude has risen every trading day since Dec. 21, gaining $8.78 in that time through Wednesday.

One analyst firm said prices could reach $85 to $90 a barrel in the first quarter, Bloomberg reported.

Meanwhile, Department of Energy reported Wednesday that oil inventories rose last week by 1.3 million barrels.

Gasoline stockpiles rose 3.7 million barrels while distillates, which include diesel, fell by 230,000 barrels, DOE said in its weekly report

Diesel and gasoline prices both took their biggest jumps in two months this week, DOE reported Monday, with diesel gaining 6.5 cents to $2.797 a gallon.