Benchmark crude gained US$0.17 to US$93.09/barrel; Brent lost US$0.83 to US$111.31/barrel; wholesale gasoline lost US$0.03 to US$2.76/gallon; natural gas rose US$0.09 to US$3.29/mcf

Cindy Allen

NEW YORK , January 4, 2013 (Associated Press) – The price of oil finished higher Friday after the Energy Department's Energy Information Administration reported a much bigger drop in the nation's crude supplies than analysts expected. After trading lower much of the day, benchmark crude for February delivery closed up 17 cents at $93.09 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The EIA report said crude supplies fell by 11.1 million barrels, or 3 percent, last week. Analysts expected a drop of just a million barrels. Oil supplies shrank as crude imports fell off by almost a million barrels a day last week. At the same time, supplies at the crucial hub for domestic crude at Cushing, Okla., stayed up at near-record levels. Overall U.S. crude inventories are about 9 percent above year-ago levels.

There were also some encouraging economic reports Friday that raised hopes for higher oil demand.

The Labor Department reported U.S. employers added 155,000 jobs in December, a steady gain that shows hiring held up during tense negotiations to resolve the fiscal cliff issue. The solid job growth wasn't enough to push down the unemployment rate, however, which remained at 7.8 percent last month.

Also, the Institute for Supply Management said U.S. service firms' activity expanded in December by the most in nearly a year, driven by a jump in new orders and hiring. The index measures growth in industries that cover 90 percent of the workforce, including retail, construction, health care and financial services.

Brent crude, used to price international varieties of oil, finished 83 cents lower at $111.31 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange in London.

In other energy futures trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange:

— Wholesale gasoline lost 3 cents to end at $2.76 a gallon.

— Heating oil fell less than a penny to finish at $3.02 a gallon.

— Natural gas rose 9 cents to end at $3.29 per 1,000 cubic feet.

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