Oil nears $83

Oil and gas demand is expected to increase as economies recover and businesses hire more workers.

SHOOT: Higher oil prices are a sign that the economy is recovering. Are both of these good things?

clipped from finance.yahoo.com NEW YORK (AP) -- Oil prices settled near $83 a barrel Wednesday after crude inventories grew less than expected last week, and the stock market rose on the Fed's promise to keep interest rates at record lows. The Energy Information Administration said crude inventories rose last week by a million barrels to 344 million barrels. Analysts expected a build of 1.9 million barrels. Oil and gas demand is expected to increase as economies recover and businesses hire more workers. Pump prices have risen 17.3 cents in the last month and are now 87.9 cents higher than levels of a year ago.