LONDON (AP) -- Oil edged above $89 a barrel Wednesday amid ongoing tensions in the Middle East and as investors hoped that the Federal Reserve will eventually provide stimulus to the U.S. economy.
Benchmark crude for August delivery was up 14 cents at $89.36 a barrel by mid-afternoon in Europe in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract added 79 cents to end Tuesday at $89.22 per barrel in New York.
Brent crude was up 57 cents at $104.57 on the ICE futures exchange in London.
A civil war in Syria and ongoing talks over Iran's nuclear program have kept tensions high in the Middle East, one of the world's main sources of crude oil. Senior Syrian government officials were killed in a bombing on Wednesday, raising fears of a further deterioration in the country's domestic conflict.
Oil has gained the past few days but is significantly lower from its $106 level of about two months ago. Europe's debt crisis and waning growth in the U.S. and China have added to expectations of weak demand for crude, pulling down the oil price.
Oil prices got a lift Tuesday from a brighter outlook for U.S. homebuilders and rising industrial production. Hopes that the Fed will provide new stimulus to the U.S. economy, the world's largest, have also buoyed financial markets.
In a testimony Tuesday, Fed chief Ben Bernanke gave no signal that the Fed was considering such stimulus, but markets have remained firm on hopes that the central bank will support the economy if it continues to weaken.
In other futures trading, heating oil was up 1.2 cents to $2.85 a gallon. Gasoline rose 2.4 cents to $2.86 a gallon and natural gas rose 9.4 cents to $2.89 per 1,000 cubic feet.
