The price of oil rose to near US$94 yesterday ahead of the release of US industrial production and manufacturing figures that analysts expect to show an improving economy.

By early afternoon in Europe, benchmark oil for April delivery was up 60 cents to US$93.63 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose 51 cents to close at US$93.03 per barrel on the Nymex on Thursday.

Traders expect to see improvement in US industrial production for February when the Federal Reserve releases the details later yesterday. Analysts at Capital Economics said in a market commentary that they expect a month-on-month increase of 0.6 percent.

"February's employment and hours worked data suggest that manufacturing output also increased," the analysts said, "so we wouldn't be surprised to see something of a rebound in February."

Oil's rise on Thursday was attributed to favorable US employment data, offsetting news about ample crude supplies and worries about the eurozone economy. Weekly US jobless claims fell by a greater-than-anticipated 10,000 to 332,000, helping to sustain hopes over the US labor market.

Brent crude, used to price many kinds of oil imported by US refineries, was up US$1.14 to US$110.10 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange in London.

Experts said Brent's rise was due partly to reports of decreasing oil exports from Iran - which is enduring sanctions from Western powers because of its nuclear program - and expectations about aggravated geopolitical tensions in the Middle East related to the upcoming visit to Israel by US President Barack Obama.

A weaker dollar was also supporting oil prices, making crude cheaper for traders using other currencies. On Friday, the euro was up at US$1.3090 from US$1.3010 late Thursday in new York.

In other energy futures trading on the Nymex:

- Wholesale gasoline added 2.64 cents to US$3.1561 a gallon.

- Heating oil rose 3.13 cents to US$3.0444 a gallon.

- Natural gas climbed 7.7 cents to US$3.889 per 1,000 cubic feet.