Oil prices rose above $77 a barrel Thursday in Asia, rebounding slightly. Benchmark crude for January delivery was up 55 cents to $77.15 at late afternoon Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. In other Nymex trading in January contracts, heating oil rose 1.06 cents to $2.05 and gasoline gained 1.17 cents to $2.00. Natural gas climbed 4.2 cents to $4.57 per 1,000 cubic feet. In London, Brent crude for January delivery gained 74 cents to $78.62 on the ICE Futures exchange, the Associated Press reported.
