Oil prices rose nearly $2 a barrel on Friday, bouncing back from a dip earlier this week as markets reacted to a fire at a massive refining complex in Venezuela and developments in Ecuador, where protesters had forced a halt to production.
Light, sweet crude for September delivery gained $2.08 on the New York Mercantile Exchange to settle at $65.35 a barrel Friday, still down 2.6 percent from the record intraday high of $67.10 reached Aug. 12. The September contracts expire Monday. Gasoline rose more than 4 cents to settle at $1.9039 a gallon, while heating oil rose more than 3 cents to settle at $1.8228. On London’s International Petroleum Exchange, October Brent crude futures jumped $2.10 to $64.50 a barrel.
