Oil Jumps Above $94 a Barrel as Supplies Fall

Oil prices rose Wednesday, sending U.S. crude above $94 a barrel for the first time in two weeks.

Crude oil for February delivery rose $1.58, or 1.7 percent, to $94.17 a barrel in New York. It’s up 2.6 percent the past two days.

A key reason for the higher price was a big drop in supplies. The U.S. government reported that oil supplies fell by 7.7 million barrels last week, more than analysts expected.

In other energy futures trading, wholesale gasoline was flat at $2.63 a gallon, natural gas fell 4 cents to $4.33 per 1,000 cubic feet and heating oil gained 4 cents to $2.98 a gallon.

Metals prices were mixed.

Gold for February delivery fell $7.10 to $1,238.30 an ounce. March silver fell 14.8 cents to $20.134 an ounce.

Platinum for April delivery fell $5.20 to $1,428.60 an ounce. Palladium for March delivery rose $5.10 to $744 an ounce.

Copper for March delivery rose 2.2 cents to $3.358 a pound.

In March agricultural contracts, wheat slumped 11.5 cents to $5.6775 a bushel. Corn fell 5.75 cents to $4.2575 a bushel, and soybeans edged up 11 cents to $13.18 a bushel.