Oil rose

Oil rose from the lowest price in two weeks after a surprise drop in U.S. stockpiles, and as an unexpected advance in German business confidence countered concern that Europe’s debt crisis will threaten growth.

New York futures gained as much as 0.7 percent after earlier swinging between gains and losses. Crude inventories declined last week to the lowest since January 2010, according to an Energy Department report yesterday. German business confidence unexpectedly rose for the first time in five months in November.

Crude for January delivery rose as much as 71 cents to $96.88 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It was at $96.64 at 11:33 a.m. London time. The contract earlier lost as much 53 cents. Prices have gained 5.8 percent this year.

Floor trading is closed today for the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday and electronic transactions will be booked with tomorrow’s trades for settlement purposes.

Brent oil for January settlement on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange was at $107.74 a barrel, up 72 cents. The European benchmark crude was at a premium of $11.10 to New York-traded West Texas contracts. The spread reached a record $27.88 on Oct. 14.