BENCHMARK oil for August delivery rose 18 cents yesterday to close at US$95.50 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. That is in the middle of its range for the month of June, of US$91.26 to US$99.21 a barrel.

The Energy Department's weekly report on energy supplies had little impact. Crude supplies remained at 394.1 million barrels, which is 1.8 percent above year-ago levels, the Energy Information Administration said.

Brent crude, which is used to set prices for oil used by many U.S. refineries to make gasoline, rose 40 cents to finish at US$101.66 a barrel.

In other energy futures trading on the Nymex, natural gas rose 6 cents to end at US$3.71 per 1,000 cubic feet (28.32 cubic meters).