Prices of crude oil rose sharply on the open market.

The extended to a third straight day a recovery from seven-year lows. But prices remained about a third lower than at the start of the year and well below the closing prices at the end of the previous week. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, where West Texas Intermediate for March delivery bottomed out at $15.44 a barrel on Tuesday, prices shot up $1.40 to $17.85 in the early going before giving some ground to close the week at $17.68, up $1.23 from the previous day.