Oil back above US$87 a barrel after truce between Israel and Hamas announced

NEW YORK, N.Y. – The price of oil rose Wednesday following the announcement of a ceasefire agreement to end a week of fighting between Israel and Hamas militants.

Benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude rose 63 cents to finish at US$87.38 a barrel in New York after having climbed as high as US$87.89 in morning Trading. Oil had fallen almost three per cent Tuesday.

The truce was announced by Egypt’s foreign minister and confirmed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The deal is to end a week of fighting that has killed more than 140 Palestinians and five Israelis.

Brent crude, used to price international varieties of oil, rose $1.03 to end at US$110.86 a barrel in London.

In other energy futures trading in New York, heating oil gained three cents to finish at US$3.07 a U.S. gallon (3.79 litres), wholesale gasoline rose four cents to end at US$2.75 a gallon and natural gas gained seven cents to finish at US$3.90 per 1,000 cubic feet.

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