AP reported that oil prices hit USD 80 a barrel in US to end a wild trading week that saw prices swing in the opposite direction every day.

The Energy Information Administration said that the country has started consuming more petroleum over the past few weeks. It also said the US is still working off a hefty crude surplus built up during the recession. And gasoline contracts slid this week as a refinery strike ended in France. The US, which imports much of its fuel from Europe, still has larger than average supplies of both motor gasoline and distillate fuels like diesel.

Crude prices also got a boost on Friday from a weaker US dollar. Dollar based commodities like oil become cheaper for international investors when the dollar falls. Benchmark crude for April delivery added USD 1.49 to settle at USD 79.66 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices reached as high as USD 80.05 a barrel earlier in the day.

Meanwhile, pump prices increased for the ninth day. The average price for retail gasoline added less than a penny overnight to USD 2.701 a gallon.

According to AAA, Wright Express and Oil Price Information Service, a gallon of regular unleaded is 0.6 cent more expensive than it was last month and 81.9 cents more expensive than a year ago. In other Nymex trading, heating oil for March delivery added 3.87 cents to settle at USD 2.0249 a gallon, while gasoline for March delivery rose 4.18 cents to settle at USD 2.0788 a gallon. Natural gas for April delivery gained 4.6 cents to settle at USD 4.813 per 1,000 cubic feet.

(Sourced from Associated Press)