Oil rises slightly ahead of US job figures
Oil prices rise slightly ahead of US employment data for February
BANGKOK (AP) -- The price of oil rise slightly Friday, reflecting caution as investors wait for the latest U.S. employment figures.
Benchmark oil for April delivery was up 7 cents to $91.63 per barrel at late afternoon Bangkok time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
The contract gained $1.13 to finish at $91.56 a barrel on Nymex on Thursday, pushed higher by the release of data showing a drop in applications for unemployment benefits in the U.S.
On Friday, the U.S. Commerce Department will release jobs data for February. Analysts expect the report to show that employers in the U.S., the biggest consumer of oil and petroleum products, added 152,000 jobs last month.
Brent crude, used to price many kinds of oil imported by U.S. refineries, fell 10 cents at $111.05 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange in London.
In other energy futures trading on the Nymex:
— Wholesale gasoline rose 1.7 cents to $3.141 a gallon.
— Heating oil fell 0.4 cent to $2.975 a gallon.
— Natural gas rose 1.5 cents to $3.597 per 1,000 cubic feet.
