Oil prices approach 10-month high

HOUSTON – Oil prices approached $75 a barrel Monday for the first time in 10 months amid growing optimism that the world’s economies are on the mend.

Benchmark crude for October delivery rose 48 cents to settle at $74.37 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Oil last topped $75 in October, and on Monday prices came within 19 cents of that mark.

Natural gas rebounded strongly from new seven-year lows Monday, yet still traded below $3 per 1,000 cubic feet because of a huge glut and very little demand from major industrial customers.

Expectations that demand for energy will grow, at least for oil and gasoline, were spurred Friday by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, who said the U.S. economy is reviving. Bernanke’s remarks and signs of improvement in the U.S. housing market sent stock markets higher, and that carried over into the new week.