Oil prices broke above $64 a barrel Monday in Asia as strong second quarter company results helped boost investor optimism, the Associated Press reported. Benchmark crude for August delivery was up 83 cents to $64.39 a barrel by late afternoon Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. On Friday, the contract jumped $1.54 to settle at $63.56. Oil has bounced from $58.78 a barrel last week after falling from an eight-month high of $73.23 on June 30. In other Nymex trading, gasoline for August delivery rose 1.31 cents to $1.78 a gallon and heating oil gained 1.34 cents to $1.65. Natural gas for August delivery jumped 2.3 cents to $3.69 per 1,000 cubic feet. In London, Brent prices rose 84 cents to $66.20 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.
