Oil Finishes Week Near $96 a Barrel

Oil finished near $96 a barrel on Friday, ending the week higher for a seventh straight week, the longest string of weekly gains in almost four years, Bloomberg News reported.

Crude futures slipped 7 cents to finish at $95.88 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, on signs of stronger economic recovery in the U.S. and Europe, Bloomberg said. It was the longest stretch of weekly gains since April 2009.

Monday’s closing price over $96 a barrel was the highest in four months, and prices have risen for 11 of the past 12 weeks compared with the previous week, according to Bloomberg Nymex figures.

Diesel’s national average pump price increased this week for the first time in two months, although it rose by less than a penny, to $3.902 a gallon. Gasoline rose for a fifth straight week, to $3.315.

The Department of Energy will release its next weekly survey of filling-station prices Monday afternoon in Washington.