Crude oil prices top $87

The U.S. Federal Reserve Wednesday said it would buy $600 billion worth of long-term treasury bonds, an announcement that reverberated through equity markets Thursday and Friday. Asian markets were sharply higher Friday, although U.S. markets came back down to Earth posting modest gains after a surge Thursday.

On Friday, the Labor Department said the U.S. economy added 151,000 jobs in October.

The dollar index rallied, rising 0.94 percent, but oil prices ignored the gain and climbed, too.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, December delivery crude oil added 86 cents to $87.35 per barrel. Heating oil prices gained 2.16 cents to $2.3947 per gallon. Reformulated gasoline blendstock prices climbed 1.41 cents from a prior settlement to $2.1912 per gallon. Henry Hub natural gas prices added 8.9 cents to $3.945 per million British thermal units.

At the retail level, the national average price of unleaded gasoline rose to $2.819 per gallon Friday from Thursday's $2.806, AAA said.

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