Commodity Corner: Oil Gains; NG Surges

Crude oil for July delivery entered the holiday weekend in the black, gaining 36 cents to settle at $100.59 a barrel.

Oil received a boost from a weaker dollar, which made the commodity a more attractive buy for investors holding currencies other than the greenback. The ICE Dollar Index, which tracks the dollar's value against foreign currencies, fell more than 0.8 percent Friday.

Crude oil traded within a range from $100.04 to $101.24 Friday. For the week, oil is up 1.1 percent.

Memorial Day marks the traditional start of summer in the U.S., and summerlike temperatures should prevail throughout the Midwest, South, and East during the next two weeks. As a result, investors expect stronger demand for air conditioning—and gas-fired power. Natural gas consequently ended the day 18 cents higher at $4.52 per thousand cubic feet.

The July contract price peaked at $4.56 and bottomed out at $4.365. Since last Friday, natural gas has gained 6.9 percent.

June gasoline settled four cents higher at $3.09 a gallon. The futures price fluctuated from $3.04 to $3.08, and gasoline is up 5.1 percent for the week.