NEW YORK - Oil prices rose Thursday after the assassination of Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto raised concerns about stability in the Middle East.
Bhutto died in a suicide attack that also killed at least 20 others at a campaign rally, aides said.
"It's definitely instability,'' said James Cordier, president of Liberty Trading Group in Tampa, Fla. "Everybody wants calm when they're talking about pricing energy (futures).''
Light sweet crude oil for February delivery rose 47 cents to US$96.44 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Also supporting oil prices Thursday were expectations that domestic crude supplies fell last week. In its weekly inventory report, the Energy Department's Energy Information Administration is expected to show that oil supplies fell by 1.3 million barrels last week, according to the average forecast of analysts surveyed.
Analysts believe crude supplies fell because of foggy weather that at times prevented oil tankers from entering the Houston Ship Channel and delivering their cargoes.
The EIA report is also expected to show that distillate inventories, which include heating oil and diesel fuel, fell by 800,000 barrels, while gasoline stockpiles rose by 1.4 million barrels. Refinery use likely grew by 0.6 of a percentage point to 88.4 per cent of capacity, analysts predict.
Other energy futures were mixed Thursday. Heating oil futures rose 1.9 cents to $2.6602 a gallon (3.8 litres) while gasoline futures rose 1.39 cents to $2.4665 a gallon. Natural gas futures fell 10.2 cents to $6.944 per 1,000 cubic feet.
In London, February Brent crude futures rose 28 cents to $94.22 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.
