Crude oil jumps Thursday

Crude oil prices jumped above $88 Thursday morning on the New York Mercantile Exchange, as equity markets turned higher in Asia and Europe. West Texas Intermediate crude oil added $1.85 to $88.34 a barrel with price support also coming from a weaker U.S. dollar. Home heating oil rose 4.6 cents to $3.0669 a gallon while reformulated blendstock gasoline added 3.57 cents to $2.7234 a gallon. Henry Hub natural gas shed 1.4 cent to $3.661 per million British thermal units. On Wednesday, the Energy Information Agency said stockpiles of crude were little changed in the week with a draw down of about 300,000 barrels. Still, even a slight draw down with winter weather setting in is likely to push prices higher. At the pump, AAA reported regular unleaded gasoline selling for $3.409 per gallon, down from Wednesday's $3.415.