
Oil Prices Pass $97
Crude oil was above $97 a barrel Thursday on news that inclement weather has shut in production in the North Sea.
December light sweet crude was up $1.01 at $97.38 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It reached an intraday high of $97.70 earlier.
Reformulated gasoline is trading 4 cents higher at $2.48 a gallon. Heating oil is up 3 cents at $2.65 a gallon, and natural gas rose 5 cents to $7.67 per million British thermal units.
Both
BP
and
ConocoPhillips
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have ceased production in the North Sea because of a large storm, unnerving energy traders.
Meanwhile, energy stocks are mostly higher.
Exxon Mobil
(XOM) - Get Exxon Mobil Corporation Report
advanced 2.4% to $89.30 a share.
Chevron
(CVX) - Get Chevron Corporation Report
gained 2.7% to $89.87, and Conoco was rising 2% to $84.08.