Oil price rises after Israel-Hamas truce is announced

, Nov 21: The price of oil rose on Wednesday afternoon following the

of a cease-fire agreement to end a week of fighting between

and Hamas militants. Benchmark oil rose 33 cents to USD 87.08 a barrel in New York. It climbed as high as USD 87.89 in the morning.

fell nearly 3 percent yesterday. The truce was announced by Egypt's foreign minister and confirmed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The deal is to end a week of fighting that has killed more than 140 Palestinians and five Israelis. Brent crude, used to price international varieties of oil, rose 40 cents to USD 110.23 a barrel in London. In other energy futures trading in New York: Heating oil gained 2 cents to USD 3.07 a gallon. Wholesale gasoline rose 2 cents to USD 2.73 a gallon. Natural gas gained 6 cents to USD 3.89 per 1,000 cubic feet.

AP