Oil rises for 3rd straight day, tops $95

Oil rises for 3rd straight day, tops $95

Oil prices rose for the third day in a row on today as hopeful signs for U.S. housing suggested that oil demand could rise, too.

Applications for building permits rose to their highest level in four years, according to the Commerce Department. If housing is picking up, the economy could be, too, and that would tend to raise oil prices.

Benchmark oil for September delivery rose $1.27 to finish at $95.60 per barrel in New York. It’s now up almost 3 percent from $92.87 per barrel on Friday.

On Wednesday, oil rose 90 cents per barrel on an unexpectedly large drop in crude supplies. That’s another sign of stronger demand, which tends to drive up prices.

Increasing tensions between Israel and Iran have also been driving oil prices higher in recent weeks.

Meanwhile, the average pump price for a gallon of regular gasoline in the U.S. remains at $3.71, the highest level since mid-May. That’s up 30 cents from a month ago and 12 cents more than this time last year.