AlHijjah 21, 1432, Nov 17, 2011, SPA -- Oil prices rose above $103 a barrel Thursday in Asia, extending a 37 percent rally during the last six weeks, according to AP. Benchmark crude for December delivery was up 67 cents at $103.26 a barrel at late afternoon Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose $3.22 to settle at $102.59 in New York on Wednesday. Brent crude for January delivery slumped 28 cents to $111.60 a barrel on the ICE Futures Exchange in London. Oil has soared from $75 on Oct. 4 amid signs the U.S. economy is growing slowly - rather than slipping into a recession as some analysts feared during the summer. Oil prices jumped Wednesday after Canadian pipeline company Enbridge announced it would ship crude away from a key delivery point in Cushing, Oklahoma. The company bought a 50 percent stake in the Seaway pipeline from ConocoPhillips and plans to use it to transport oil from Cushing to refineries along the Gulf Coast, where much of it will be shipped overseas because of rising demand from Latin America. The benchmark U.S. crude is West Texas Intermediate, or WTI. Some analysts expect Europe's debt crisis and weak economic growth will undermine crude demand and eventually send prices lower. In other Nymex trading, heating oil added 1.2 cents to $3.15 per gallon and gasoline futures slid 0.9 cents to $2.62 per gallon. Natural gas gained 1.0 cent at $3.35 per 1,000 cubic feet.
