Crude oil prices climb on financial news

NEW YORK, Oct. 13 (UPI) -- Crude oil prices climbed on the New York Mercantile Exchange Monday as U.S. stock markets surged.

Britain said it would pump $88 billion into banks now with a promise of $438 billion in loans to the banking sector, The Wall Street Journal reported. Leaders of the 15-nation Eurozone were contemplating a variety of plans to help banks, including purchasing bank equity and loans, the Journal said.

The Dow Jones industrial average climbed 936 points on the news, gaining back a large chunk of the 2,400 points it had lost in the past eight trading days.

Crude oil prices gained $1.99 to $81.84 per barrel in New York. Heating oil prices fell slightly, down 0.0988 cents to $2.3428 per gallon. Reformulated blendstock gasoline rose 0.0725 cents to $1.935 per gallon. Natural gas prices gained 0.064 cents to $6.707 per million British thermal units.

At the pump, the average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline was $3.206 Monday, down from Sunday's $3.247 a gallon, AAA said.