New York - SPA
The price of oil rose as tradersanticipated positive news in the monthly U.S. jobs report.Benchmark U.S. crude for May delivery gained 67 cents Thursday to close at $100.29a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude, used to set prices forinternational varieties of oil, rose $1.36 to $106.15 a barrel on the ICE Futuresexchange in London, AP reported.The Labor Department releases its March employment report Friday. Economistsproject that employers added 191,000 workers last month, according to a survey byFactSet. That would be an improvement from February, when employers added175,000 positions.After Thursday's gain, oil is down 38 cents a barrel so far this week.In other energy futures trading in New York:- Wholesale gasoline added 5 cents to $2.91 a gallon.- Natural gas jumped 11 cents to $4.47 per 1,000 cubic feet.- Heating oil gained 4 cents to $2.91 a gallon.