Crude oil prices up on inventory report

NEW YORK, July 1 (UPI) -- Crude oil prices slid close to $69 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange Wednesday in spite of lower crude oil stockpiles.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration said stockpiles of crude oil fell by 3.7 million barrels in the week ending June 26.

Crude oil prices fell 69 cents Wednesday to $69.20 per barrel. Heating oil prices fell 0.0227 cents, to $1.765 per gallon. Reformulated blendstock gasoline rose 0.041 cents, to $1.861 per gallon. Natural gas prices rose 0.05 cents, to $3.785 per million British thermal units.

At the pump, the average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline was $2.63 Wednesday, down from Tuesday's $2.633 a gallon, AAA said.