Crude oil prices hold steady Friday

NEW YORK, Oct. 3 (UPI) -- Crude oil prices held close to steady Friday on the New York Mercantile Exchange, in spite of midday passage of a $700 billion bailout package in Washington.

Crude oil prices gained just 0.03 cents per barrel over Thursday's close, reaching $98.88 Friday. Heating oil prices fell 0.105 to $2.2662 per gallon. Reformulated blendstock gasoline dropped 0.0277 cents to $2.2283 per gallon. Natural gas prices fell 0.097 cents to $7.358 per million British thermal units.

At the pump, the average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline was $3.576, down from Thursday's $3.598 a gallon, AAA said.