Heating oil prices ease slightly Wednesday

NEW YORK, May 14 (UPI) -- Crude oil prices dropped to an even $124.00 per barrel Wednesday on the New York Mercantile Exchange on a report U.S. inventories had increased.

The Energy Information Administration reported a fractional gain in crude oil inventories -- up 200,000 barrels for the week ending May 9. But inventories of distillate products, which includes heating oil, grew by 1.4 million barrels.

On the exchange Wednesday, heating oil prices fell 0.0821 cents to $3.6229 per gallon. The price of reformulated gasoline blendstock fell 0.0084 cents to $3.172 per gallon. Natural gas prices fell 0.036 cents to $11.562 per million British thermal units.

The price at the pump climbed to a national average record $3.758 for a gallon of unleaded regular gasoline, up from Tuesday's price of $3.732 a gallon, AAA reported.