The price of oil rose past $88 a barrel Wednesday as a key measure of German business optimism showed a slight improvement and a report suggested a big drop in U.S. crude stockpiles.

By early afternoon in Europe, benchmark crude for January delivery was up 62 cents to $88.55 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. On Tuesday, the contract added 73 cents to close at $87.93.