Oil moves higher on near-global equity gain

NEW YORK, Jan. 15 (UPI) -- Crude oil prices churned higher Wednesday, topping $94 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange with equities making global gains.

Major stock markets in Asia and Europe were broadly higher with the exception of the Shanghai composite index in China, which eased back 0.17 percent.

On Wall Street, stocks made solid gains for the second consecutive session.

On Wednesday, NYMEX light, sweet crude oil added $1.64 cents to hit $94.23 per barrel.

Reformulated blendstock gasoline added 0.24 cents to $2.6248 a gallon.

Home heating oil added 4.14 cents to $2.9777 a gallon.

Natural gas shed 4 cents to hit $4.33 per million British thermal units.

The national average price of unleaded regular gasoline dropped to $3.306 per gallon from Tuesday's $3.308, the AAA Daily Fuel Gauge Report said.