Crude oil climbs in Middle East tension

Crude oil prices climbed above $86 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange Friday with traders focused on supplies due to tension in the Middle East. Rising tension between Hamas and Israel has injected a fresh undercurrent of concern in commodities markets. At the same time a weekly Energy Information Administration stockpile report delayed by one day due to Monday's Veterans Day holiday, said crude oil inventories rose by 1.1 million barrels in the week to 375.9 million barrels. On the other hand, distillate fuel stocks, which includes home heating oil, were down 2.5 million barrels in the week, just as a wintry chill set in over much of the country. On Friday morning, West Texas Intermediate crude oil added 53 cents to $86.40 per barrel. Reformulated blendstock gasoline gained 0.94 cents to $2.7056 per gallon overnight. Home heating oil prices shed 0.39 cents to $2.9696 per gallon. Natural gas prices added 2.5 cents to $3.728 per million British thermal units. At the pump, the national average price of unleaded gasoline fell to $3.43 per gallon from Thursday's $3.438, AAA said.