Goldman Sparks Crude Rebound

Updated from 1:08 p.m. EST

Oil rallied Thursday, spurred on by surging gasoline prices and a Goldman Sachs research note that said a $100-per-barrel price isn't out of the realm of reason.

The May futures contract closed at $1.41 to $55.40 a barrel in Nymex electronic trading. Gasoline futures, which expire Thursday, spiked more than 5.5 cents to $1.653 a gallon, topping the record all-time high of $1.59 it reached last week.

Crude futures caught a bid after Goldman put out a note arguing oil is entering a bull run that could, in certain scenarios, take crude above $100 a barrel. The bank said those prices would eventually crimp global demand, but until then it predicted major upside for big oil producers. ...