NEW YORK, April 2 (UPI) -- Crude oil for May delivery held above $85 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, a price not seen since October 2008.
This week at the International Energy Forum in Cancun, Mexico, Saudi Arabian oil minister Ali Naimi said the price of oil was "close to perfection," America Public Media reported. In the United States, oil rose in political prominence as U.S. President Barack Obama partially lifted restrictions on offshore drilling on the East Coast, the Gulf of Mexico and northern Alaska. The following day, the Department of Transportation announced a push to increase fuel efficiency in cars made between 2012 and 2016.
With markets closed for Good Friday, light, sweet crude's closing price Thursday was $85.20 per barrel. Heating oil futures for May closed at $2.218 per gallon. Reformulated gasoline blendstock closed at $2.3244 per gallon, while natural gas prices closed at $4.074 per million British thermal units.
At the pump, the national average price for a gallon of unleaded gasoline rose to $2.812 per gallon Friday, from Thursday's $2.803, AAA said.
