Oil prices jumped above $77 a barrel Monday in Asia, extending gains for a second trading day after a leak forced the closure of a Chicago-area oil pipeline and disrupted supplies to U.S. Midwest refineries, the Associated Press reported. Benchmark crude for October delivery was up 70 cents to $77.15 a barrel at late afternoon Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose $2.20 to settle at $76.45 on Friday. In other Nymex trading in October contracts, heating oil was up 1.2 cents at $2.116 a gallon and gasoline added 1.47 cents to $1.988 a gallon. Natural gas fell 3.2 cents to $3.851 per 1,000 cubic feet. In London, Brent crude rose 49 cents to $78.80 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.
