OIL prices rose yesterday as better-than-expected earnings from Exxon Mobil Corp., Southwest Airlines Co. and others bolstered hope for an improving economy.

Benchmark crude for September delivery rose US$1.37 to settle at US$78.36 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Oil also benefited from a slight decline in new unemployment claims and a weaker dollar. Commodities like oil are priced in dollars. A weaker dollar makes commodities more attractive to buyers holding foreign currency.

Oil traders have been closely watching the movement of the dollar, stock markets, earnings and economic data for clues about investorsentiment and the strength of the U.S. and global economies.

In a research report Barclays Capital said the main driver of oil prices has been skittishness about the economic recovery. "It may take a while before the ghosts from the previouscrisis go away entirely," it wrote.

Exxon Mobil Corp.'s second-quarter income nearly doubled to US$7.56 billion as oil prices increased from last year. It was Exxon's highest quarterly profit since the US$7.82 billion it earned in the last three months of 2008.

Southwest Airlines reported second-quarter earnings of US$112 million. It credited a 21 percent increase in revenue to higher average fares.

In other energy trading, natural gas rose as the government said reserves grew by 28 billion cubic feet to 2.919 trillion cubic feet last week. Supplies remain about 9 percent above the five-year average.

Analysts said reserves typically rise more this time of year. A heat wave that has Americans turning on air conditioners is forcing power companies to burn more gas to generateelectricity. Reduced production in the Gulf of Mexico last week due to Tropical Storm Bonnie also slowed the expansion of natural gas reserves.

Natural gas for September delivery rose 10.9 cents to US$4.827 per 1,000 cubic feet.

In other Nymex trading, heating oil for August delivery added 4.08 cents to US$2.0372 a gallon. Because that contract expires on Friday, much of the trading has moved to the September contract, where the price gained 4.36 cents at US$2.0696 a gallon.

The August contract for gasoline, which also expires Friday, rose 3.4 cents to US$2.0974 a gallon. The September contract rose 3.63 cents to US$2.1010 a gallon.

Brent crude settled up 31 cents at US$77.59 a barrel on the ICE futures exchange.

• yesterday [´jestədi] n.&ad.昨天；前不久 (初中英语单词)
• economy [i´kɔnəmi] n.经济；机制；组织 (初中英语单词)
• barrel [´bærəl] n.(琵琶)桶；圆筒 (初中英语单词)
• attractive [ə´træktiv] a.有吸引力；诱人的 (初中英语单词)
• movement [´mu:vmənt] n.活动；运动；动作 (初中英语单词)
• sentiment [´sentimənt] n.情绪；多愁善感 (初中英语单词)
• research [ri´sə:tʃ] n.&vi.调查；探究；研究 (初中英语单词)
• previous [´pri:viəs] a.先，前，以前的 (初中英语单词)
• income [´inkʌm] n.收入，所得 (初中英语单词)
• energy [´enədʒi] n.活力，精力；能力 (初中英语单词)
• mexico [´meksikəu] n.墨西哥 (初中英语单词)
• southwest [,sauθ´west] n.&a.西南(方)(的) (高中英语单词)
• delivery [di´livəri] n.送交；分娩；交货 (高中英语单词)
• unemployment [,ʌnim´plɔimənt] n.失业；失业人数 (高中英语单词)
• currency [´kʌrənsi] n.通货；通用；货币 (高中英语单词)
• recovery [ri´kʌvəri] n.重获；获得；恢复 (高中英语单词)
• crisis [´kraisis] n.转折点；危机 (高中英语单词)
• billion [´biljən] num.万亿 (高中英语单词)
• revenue [´revinju:] n.税收；收入 (高中英语单词)
• electricity [i,lek´trisiti] n.电；电学；电流 (高中英语单词)
• tropical [´trɔpikəl] a.热带地区的 (高中英语单词)
• expansion [ik´spænʃən] n.扩大；膨胀；发展 (高中英语单词)
• gallon [´gælən] n.加伦 (高中英语单词)
• gasoline [´gæsəli:n] n.汽油 (高中英语单词)
• generate [´dʒenəreit] vt.创造；发生；引起 (英语四级单词)
• earnings [´ə:niŋz] n.收益；报酬；获得 (英语六级单词)
• holding [´həuldiŋ] n.保持，固定，存储 (英语六级单词)
• investor [in´vestə] n.投资者 (英语六级单词)
• august [ɔ:´gʌst] a.尊严的；威严的 (英语六级单词)