Oil prices rose for a second day Thursday after six straight days of declines, as the dollar fell and investors latched onto a government report that new requests for unemployment benefits fell sharply last week. Benchmark oil for October delivery added 84 cents to settle at $73.36 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, according to AP. In London, Brent crude jumped $1.54 to settle at $75.02 on the ICE Futures exchange. Crude has tumbled from a high of $82.55 a barrel earlier this month as more evidence of a slowing U.S. economy suggested that demand for oil and gas would remain sluggish. But some investors are buying on the expectation that oil prices are set to rebound again. «As long as Chinese demand remains strong and a case for global consumption strength next year is able to be argued, crude values could easily begin tracking north back toward the $80 area,» independent analyst Jim Ritterbusch said. A weaker dollar also helped boost crude, making the commodity cheaper for investors holding other currencies. The euro rose to $1.2703 on Thursday from $1.2657 late Wednesday in New York, after an indicator of German business confidence rose to a three-year high. In U.S. economic news, new claims for jobless aid dropped by 31,000 to a seasonally adjusted 473,000, the Labor Department said Thursday. Still, claims remain much higher than they would be in a healthy economy. Employers are reluctant to hire as economic growth appears to be slowing. In other Nymex trading in September contracts, heating oil rose 3.86 cents to settle at $2.0092 a gallon and gasoline gained 4.46 cents to settle at $1.9085 a gallon. The rebound in crude prices came as natural gas prices slumped to a record low for the year after the government reported a rise in U.S. supplies. The contract for September delivery gave up 5.4 cents to settle at $3.817 per 1,000 cubic feet on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Earlier in the day, it hit a 2010 low of $3.794. The price of natural gas, which is used to produce electricity, tends to drop this time of year as the weather begins to cool and Americans turn off their air conditioners. Analysts said natural gas contracts should continue to fall over the next few months, and that should eventually push down energy costs for homes and businesses. Overall, PFGBest analyst Phil Flynn said natural gas should become cheaper as drillers tap into larger sections of underground shale. America's vast natural-gas shale deposits are just beginning to be exploited, and the industry is expected to produce much more in coming years.
