Photo: The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

An oil pump works at sunset on June 8, 2011, in the desert oil fields of Sakhir, Bahrain. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP, Hasan Jamali

The price of oil rose above US$92 a barrel Friday after a big drop in U.S. unemployment benefit claims suggested some improvement in the world's biggest economy, raising expectations for increased demand for energy.

By early afternoon in Europe, benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude for November delivery was up 21 cents at US$92.28 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract gained 82 cents to close at US$92.07 per barrel in New York on Thursday.

Brent crude, which is used to price international varieties of oil, was down 53 cents at US$115.18 on the ICE Futures exchange in London.

The U.S. Labour Department said Thursday that applications for unemployment benefits fell last week to 339,000. That's the lowest in more than four years. If sustained, the lower level could signal stronger hiring.

"We're going to look for more workers and consumers driving and more diesel demand from manufacturers and retailers delivering," said Carl Larry, president of Oil Outlooks and Opinions.

Oil prices rose Thursday as tension between Turkey and Syria raised concerns that crude oil supplies from the Middle East could be disrupted.