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Fed move sparks oil price jump

Thu, 11/04/2010 - 23:41 by Prince damin

New York -- Crude oil prices topped $86 per barrel overnight as investors in Asia and Europe reacted to the U.S. Federal Reserves $600 billion Treasury purchasing program.

The Fed said it would spend $75 billion a month through June, a larger sum than many had anticipated. The move has the likely effect of weakening the U.S. dollar, which would help U.S. exporters and drive up prices of imports, like oil, which is priced in U.S. currency.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, December delivery crude oil added $1.55 to $86.24 per barrel. Heating oil prices added 4.05 cents to $2.3684 per gallon. Reformulated blendstock gasoline gained 3.87 cents to $2.1767 per gallon. Henry Hub natural gas prices added 1.5 cents overnight to $3.851 per million British thermal units.

At the pump, the national average price of unleaded gasoline was $2.806 per gallon Thursday, up from Wednesday's $2.799, AAA said.

Copyright 2010 United Press International, Inc. (UPI).

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