Crude rises but still under US$100 as U.S. jobs data offsets supply concern

Photo: The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

An oil pump works at sunset March 7, 2013, in the desert oil fields of Sakhir, Bahrain. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP, Hasan Jamali

NEW YORK, N.Y. - The price of oil rose Friday as a report showed a big gain in new jobs in the United States, but the advance was tempered by ongoing concern about record oil supplies.

Benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude for June delivery gained 34 cents to US$99.76 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Prices fell below $100 earlier in the week, mostly due to a surge in U.S. supplies of crude oil, which rose to a record 399.4 million barrels, according to the U.S. Energy Department.

Brent crude, an international oil benchmark, rose 83 cents Friday to US$108.59 on the ICE Futures exchange in London.

The U.S. Labor Department said Friday that employers added 288,000 jobs in April, the most in two years. The unemployment rate fell to 6.3 per cent, its lowest level since September 2008.

"The report may represent some catch-up from the hit the economy apparently took over the brutal winter months," said the Kilduff Report, edited by Michael Fitzpatrick.

In other energy futures trading on Nymex, wholesale gasoline rose one cent to US$2.94 a U.S. gallon (3.79 litres), heating oil added one cent to US$2.92 a gallon and natural gas fell five cents to US$4.67 per 1,000 cubic feet.

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