The price of North Slope oil sold on West Coast open markets closed Wednesday at $99.89 a barrel, up 73 cents for the day.

The U.S. natural gas price, at the Lower 48's Henry Hub, was $8.35 per million BTU on Wednesday, down 8 cents from Tuesday's price.

Gold prices closed at $934.60 per ounce today on the New York Mercantile Exchange, a gain of $8.