OIL finished the week with a gain as traders took their cue from rising stock markets while watching developments in the financial crisis in Cyprus.

Benchmark oil for May delivery rose US$1.26, or 1.4 percent, to close at US$93.71 a barrel. Most of that gain came yesterday afternoon, allowing oil to post a small increase for the week.

The potential for a financial collapse in the Mediterranean island nation of Cyprus has hung over both the stock and oil markets all week. Yesterday, the Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 0.7 percent as US stock investors took advantage of this week's declines and got back into the market. Oil traders did likewise, erasing a loss from the day before.

Cypriot lawmakers were finalizing a new plan they hope will raise enough money to qualify the country for a bailout package and help it avoid financial ruin next week.

But there has been no indication it will be enough to satisfy the country's prospective creditors, its fellow eurozone countries and the International Monetary Fund.

Brent crude, used to price many kinds of oil imported by US refineries, fell 23 cents to settle at US$107.24 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange in London.

In other energy futures trading on the Nymex:

- Wholesale gasoline fell 1 cents to US$3.06 a gallon.

- Heating oil lost 1 cent to US$2.97 a gallon.

- Natural gas dropped 1 cent to US$3.93 per 1,000 cubic feet.