Crude prices fall on fixed pipe in Iraq

NEW YORK, March 28 (UPI) -- U.S. crude oil supply issues came vividly into focus this week as violence in Iraq escalated and a major pipeline was bombed.

"The whole threat-to-supply issue was rammed home with pretty brutal clarity when we saw the intensity of fighting around Basra," Mike Fitzpatrick, an analyst at brokerage MF Global in New York told The Wall Street Journal.

As the pipe was repaired Friday, crude oil prices settled down on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Prices fell to $105.34 on the exchange Friday, down from an early morning price of $106.89.

Heating oil declined on the day from $3.137 per gallon to $3.1051

Reformulated blendstock gasoline prices gained slightly to $2.7125 from a morning price of $2.7091 per gallon.

The price of natural gas rose 0.027 cents in late trading Friday to $9.827 per million British thermal units.

At the pump, the average price for a gallon of unleaded gasoline in the United States was $3.275 per gallon Friday, up from Thursday's $3.267 per gallon, the AAA Daily Fuel Gauge Report said.