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Oil price jumps as US averts ‘fiscal cliff’

NEW YORK — The price of oil jumped Wednesday on the first trading day of the new year, after a deal in Washington averted the dreaded fiscal cliff. The House voted near midnight to send the bill to President Obama after a tense day of brinksmanhip. Benchmark crude for February delivery rose $1.30 to finish the first trading day of the year at $93.12 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It was as high as $93.87 a barrel at one point in the session.

More hurdles are ahead for the US economy, including a new deadline for more spending cuts in two months. In the meantime, oil analyst Phil Flynn said, ‘‘ignorance is bliss, and this deal should propel oil to . . . near $96 a barrel.’’

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Brent crude, used to price various kinds of international oil, rose $1.36 to end at $112.47 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange in London.