Oil rises in Asia ahead of US jobs report

Oil was higher in Asia on Friday after a 2 percent drop the day before as attention turned from an anticlimactic ECB meeting to the monthly report on U.S. hiring, AP reported. Benchmark crude was up 95 cents at $88.08 a barrel at midafternoon Bangkok time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract dropped $1.78 to end Thursday at $87.13 in New York. Brent crude was up 76 cents at $106.66 on the ICE futures exchange in London. Oil slid Thursday after the head of the European Central Bank failed to take immediate action to overcome the region's debt crisis and prop up the weak European economy. Six of the 17 nations that use the euro are in recession, which has reduced Europe's demand for crude. ECB President Mario Draghi said last week that he would do "whatever it takes" to save the euro common currency. To many, that meant Draghi would announce measures after the central bank's policy meeting Thursday to spark borrowing and spending. But he didn't deliver, offering only more promises. Markets are now turning their attention to the monthly U.S. hiring report due later Friday. The U.S. has created fewer new jobs in recent months as its economic recovery stumbled and the unemployment rate has remained above 8 percent. In other energy trading, wholesale gasoline futures were up 1.2 cents at $2.882 a gallon and heating oil added 1.8 cents to $2.861. Natural gas was down 1.2 cents at $2.908 per 1,000 cubic feet.