Oil Jumps Past $93

Also, the natural gas market got a boost from cool weather on the East Coast, according to Schork. "It finally feels like fall on the Atlantic seaboard. Natural gas is getting its annual fall boost."

Meanwhile, energy stocks moved broadly higher. Exxon Mobil(XOM Quote) rose 1.5% to $93.61, and Chevron(CVX Quote) was 1.3% higher to $92.88.

Norwegian state oil firm StatoilHydro(STO Quote) reported a 26% increase in third-quarter profits over the same period a year ago. Shares of StatoilHydro rose 3.4% to $35.31.

Among stock ratings changes, Western Refining(WNR Quote) was upgraded by UBS to neutral from sell, but its shares fell 0.9% to $37.80.

U.S. refiner Tesoro (TSO Quote) was downgraded by BMO Capital Markets to market perform from outperform, lowering its stock 5.2% to $61.11.

Ethanol producer VeraSun(VSE Quote) was downgraded by Calyon Securities to add from buy. However, shares of VeraSun moved 3.1% higher to $12.95.

Baker Hughes(BHI Quote) was downgraded by Friedman Billings to market perform from outperform, and its shares fell 2.3% to $87.99.