Crude oil ended higher after fluctuating sharply Thursday as the market was lifted by the U.S. government plan to save the financial system.
Light, sweet crude for October delivery rose 72 cents to settle at 97.88 U.S. dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices rallied more than 6 dollars Wednesday as investors fled plunging stocks to commodities for safety.
The latest new of a U.S. government rescue plan boosted investors' confidence in the economy. It was reported that the U.S. Congress would approve to set up an institution to handle the bad debt. Earlier Thursday the world's top central banks injected multibillion dollars into the global market to help banks in trouble.
Crude also got support from supply concerns. More than 90 percent of the oil operations in the Gulf of Mexico are still idled Thursday after Hurricanes Gustav and Ike. The U.S. Energy Department reported a bigger-than-expected drop in crude inventory in the week ended Sept. 12. Meanwhile, militant attacks on the pipelines in southern Nigeria threatened to further cut oil out put of Africa's largest oil exporter.
In London, Brent crude for November delivery edged up 35 cents to settle at 95.19 dollars a barrel on the ICE Futures Exchange.