OIL prices rose above US$82 a barrelyesterday as the stock market rebounded from Monday's losses on brighter economic news.

Benchmark crude for November delivery gained US$1.35 to settle at US$82.82 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up nearly 2 percent in afternoon trading. The NASDAQ and the S&P 500 each rose more than 2 percent. Stocks took off after the Institute for Supply Management said that the US services industry grew last month. Stocks worldwide got a boost as Japan's central bank cut interest rates to near zero to boost that country's economy. Improving economies generally lead to stronger demand for oil and gas.

Energy consultants Cameron Hanover said one of the best correlations lately with oil prices has been the dollar's relationship to the euro. On Monday the dollar gained against the euro, making oil and other commodities priced in dollars more expensive for foreign investors. Crude prices retreated. Yesterday the dollar fell against the euro and oil prices rose.

The state of oil inventories could also determine whether prices continue to rise in the short term or level off. The US Department of Energy's Energy Information Administration releases the weekly supplies report today. Analysts expect crude inventories to shrink by 1.3 million barrels, according to a survey of analysts by Platts, the energy information arm of McGraw-Hill Cos. Lower supplies can help push prices higher.

"A bullish set of statistics promises to generate more interest than a bearish set of numbers," Cameron Hanover said. "Despite Monday's sell-off, oil prices still seem to want to advance."

Natural gas prices are still languishing, mainly because of huge supplies and weather outlooks for mild weather. "Weather forecasts continue to provide little support for gas prices in the coming weeks, with normal to above-average temperatures expected throughout much of the eastern half of the country," said Addison Armstrong, seniordirector of market research at Tradition Energy. He added that oil and gas operations in the Gulf of Mexico did not appear to be under the gun from a tropicaldisturbance in the Caribbean.

Natural gas added 1.6 cents to settle at US$3.743 per 1,000 cubic feet. In other Nymex trading, heating oil gained 1.79 cents to settle at US$2.3026 a gallon and gasoline picked up 3.22 cents to settle at US$2.1255 a gallon.

In London, Brent crude rose US$1.56 to settle at US$84.84 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.

• barrel [´bærəl] n.(琵琶)桶；圆筒 (初中英语单词)
• yesterday [´jestədi] n.&ad.昨天；前不久 (初中英语单词)
• industrial [in´dʌstriəl] a.工业的，产业的 (初中英语单词)
• institute [´institju:t] n.学院 vt.建立；设置 (初中英语单词)
• management [´mænidʒmənt] n.管理；处理；经营 (初中英语单词)
• economy [i´kɔnəmi] n.经济；机制；组织 (初中英语单词)
• energy [´enədʒi] n.活力，精力；能力 (初中英语单词)
• lately [´leitli] ad.近来，不久前 (初中英语单词)
• expensive [ik´spensiv] a.费钱的，昂贵的 (初中英语单词)
• administration [əd,minis´treiʃən] n.管理(事务等)；经营 (初中英语单词)
• weekly [´wi:kli] a.&ad.每周一次(的) (初中英语单词)
• survey [´sə:vei] vt.&n.俯瞰；审视；测量 (初中英语单词)
• mainly [´meinli] ad.主要地；大体上 (初中英语单词)
• normal [´nɔ:məl] a.正规的 n.正常状态 (初中英语单词)
• director [di´rektə] n.指导者；....长；导演 (初中英语单词)
• research [ri´sə:tʃ] n.&vi.调查；探究；研究 (初中英语单词)
• tradition [trə´diʃən] n.传统；惯例；传说 (初中英语单词)
• mexico [´meksikəu] n.墨西哥 (初中英语单词)
• delivery [di´livəri] n.送交；分娩；交货 (高中英语单词)
• relationship [ri´leiʃənʃip] n.关系；联系；亲属关系 (高中英语单词)
• shrink [ʃriŋk] v.收缩；退缩；畏缩 (高中英语单词)
• senior [´si:niə] a.年长的 n.前辈 (高中英语单词)
• tropical [´trɔpikəl] a.热带地区的 (高中英语单词)
• disturbance [di´stə:bəns] n.扰乱，骚动 (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)
• statistics [stə´tistiks] n.统计学；统计 (英语四级单词)
• generate [´dʒenəreit] vt.创造；发生；引起 (英语四级单词)
• languishing [´læŋgwiʃiŋ] a.衰弱下去的 (英语四级单词)
• hanover [´hænəvə] n.汉诺威 (英语六级单词)