Oil prices gain slightly Wednesday

NEW YORK, July 9 (UPI) -- Crude oil prices rose slightly Wednesday on the New York Mercantile Exchange in spite of a nearly 6 million barrel drop in U.S. oil inventories.

Crude oil inventories declined by 5.9 million barrels to 293.9 million barrels in the week ending July 4, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said Wednesday.

On the exchange, crude oil prices gained 35 cents in late trading to $136.40 per barrel. The price of heating oil fell 0.0166 cents to $3.835 per gallon. Reformulated blendstock gasoline prices fell 0.0137 cents to $3.3671 per gallon. Natural gas prices also fell, down 0.095 cents to $11.911 per million British thermal units.

At the pump, the national average price for unleaded regular gasoline remained at a record $4.108 per gallon, unchanged from Tuesday's price, AAA said.