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August 25, 2006 2:30 PM, EDT

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rude oil futures rose 15 cents to close at $72.51 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange for the week as traders eyed a new tropical storm that could develop into a hurricane over the weekend, Bloomberg reported.

Tropical Storm Ernesto became the fifth named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season in the Caribbean and was on track to move into the Gulf of Mexico early next week, Bloomberg said.

Tuesday will be the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina's landfall near New Orleans. Katrina was the eleventh named storm of last year's hurricane season.

Ongoing Violence in Nigeria and Iran’s refusal to suspend uranium enrichment activities also continued to create some oil supply concerns, Bloomberg reported.