Crude oil edged higher on Thursday, August 23, as China's manufacturing sector is contracting at a faster pace than earlier believed, leaving more space for new stimulus actions from Beijing. Crude oil for October settlement jumped 0.5 per cent, to $97.72 per barrel. In the meanwhile, natural gas futures tanked Thursday as government's weekly report showed a larger-than-expected increase in supplies. Natural gas with September contract tumbled 3.4 per cent, to $2.73 a million British thermal units.