Oil prices gain slightly Tuesday

NEW YORK, April 1 (UPI) -- Crude oil prices gained marginally Tuesday as oil company executives testified before a Congressional committee in Washington.

J.S. Simon, senior vice president of ExxonMobil Corp. told the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming "punitive punitive taxes on American energy companies ... will discourage the sustained investments needed to continue safeguarding U.S. energy security."

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, the price of crude gained 17 cents Tuesday to $101.15 per barrel.

Heating oil prices gained 0.0128 cents in late trading to reach $2.8925 per gallon.

Reformulated blendstock gasoline prices gained 0.0086 cents to $2.6478 per gallon.

Natural gas prices dropped 0.149 cents to $9.575 per million British thermal units.

At the pump, where high prices prompted the hearing in Washington, the average price of a gallon of unleaded gasoline in the United States dropped to $3.276 Tuesday from $3.287 Monday, the AAA Daily Fuel Gauge Report said.