Oil above $97 on expectations US supplies fell

The price of oil surged above $97 a barrel Wednesday on expectations US crude stockpiles fell.

Benchmark US crude for January delivery was up $1.16, or 1.2%, to $97.20 a barrel at mid-afternoon Kuala Lumpur time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose $2.22 to $96.04 on Tuesday after TransCanada said the southern leg of its Keystone XL pipeline should be operational early next month.