U.S. oil prices rose Wednesday as investors regarded shrinking petroleum-product stockpiles as well as a brighter employment outlook from the Federal Reserve as cues for strengthening demand. Light, sweet crude for April delivery settled up 67 cents, or 0.7%, at $100.37 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The April contract expires Thursday. The more actively traded May contract expired up 29 cents, or 0.3%, at $99.17 a barrel. Brent crude on the ICE futures exchange fell 94 cents, or 0.9%, to $105.85 a barrel. Crude-oil stockpiles increased by 5.9 million barrels to 375.9 million barrels in the week ended March 14, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said Wednesday. Analysts had expected stocks to rise by 2.3 million barrels on the week, according to a survey by The Wall Street Journal. Crude-oil supplies are at their highest level since November. Demand for crude oil typically falls in […]