Crude oil prices drop Thursday

NEW YORK, May 15 (UPI) -- Crude oil prices receded Thursday on the New York Mercantile Exchange after the U.S. Senate passed a bill to limit speculative energy purchases.

The bill would give the Commodity Futures Trading Commission stronger regulatory oversight on electronic trading, The Wall Street Journal reported.

"This legislation puts real teeth back in the CFTC," said Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash, said. Cantwell called for even stronger legislation "so we have no more dark markets."

On the exchange Thursday, crude oil prices fell 44 cents in late trading to $123.97 per barrel, the price dropping almost a dollar on the day.

Heating oil prices fell 0.0022 cents to $3.6202 per gallon. Reformulated blendstock gasoline prices fell 0.0043 cents to $3.1615 per gallon. The price of natural gas fell 0.023 cents to $11.376 per million British thermal units.

At the pump, the national average price for a gallon of unleaded regular gasoline climbed to a record $3.776 per gallon, up from Wednesday's $3.758 per gallon, AAA reported.