Oil Rises to Over $97 a Barrel

Oil rose for the first time in more than a week Thursday, gaining 27 cents to just over $97 a barrel, after falling for six straight trading days, Bloomberg reported.

Crude futures finished the day at $97.08 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, Bloomberg said.

Oil had finished Wednesday at $96.81, the lowest Nymex closing price since $96.36 on Feb. 2. That, in turn, was the lowest since a $93.88 per-barrel closing price on Dec. 19.

Diesel and gasoline prices have fallen in the past month, although diesel’s national average remains over $4 a gallon, according to the Department of Energy.

DOE said Wednesday that inventories of gasoline and distillate fuel, which includes diesel, both fell last week, though refineries were operating at 86.4% of capacity, the highest since early December.