Crude oil closes just above $100 a barrel

NEW YORK, Sept. 12 (UPI) -- Crude oil dropped to below $100 a barrel Friday for the first time since early April on the New York Mercantile Exchange before closing just above.

During interday trading, the price for a barrel of crude dipped to $99.99 before settling at $100.78 for the session, suffering a 4.8 percent loss for the week.

Analysts told MarketWatch that damage to refineries in the Gulf of Mexico because of Hurricane Ike may reduce the demand for oil.

"Oil wasn't an issue," said Darin Newsom, DTN senior analyst. "In fact, it could almost be viewed as bearish due to drilling platforms likely being undamaged for the most part, (and) crude oil stocks could build if refineries are shut down for any length of time."

Natural gas closed up 0.059 cents to close at $7.366 per million British thermal units.

Heating oil closed at $2.9391 a gallon, up 0.0002 cent for the day.

Gasoline closed at $2.7740 per gallon, up 0.0044 cent.

At the pump, average gas prices rose. U.S. motorists paid an average of $3.675 for a gallon of regular unleaded Friday, up from Thursday's $3.671, the AAA said.