Crude oil rises to $94

The price of a barrel of crude oil rose to $94 per barrel Monday with prices held in check by manufacturing data from China. The HSBC Purchasing Manager's Index for China for February came in with a positive 50.4, just ahead of the break even point of 50. Economists had been expecting the index to match January's mark of 52.3. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, West Texas Intermediate crude oil for April delivery added 72 cents to $94.08 per barrel. Gasoline prices on the exchange added 3.42 cents to $3.309 per gallon. Heating oil gained 3.04 cents to $3.1378 per gallon. Natural gas gained 19.2 cents to $3.469 per million British thermal units. At the pump, the national average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline was unchanged from Sunday to Monday at $3.777 per gallon, the AAA Daily Fuel Gauge Report said