Crude oil prices slide below $80

NEW YORK, Nov. 18 (UPI) -- Crude oil prices climbed briefly over $80 per barrel overnight, then settled down Wednesday.

After peaking at $80.23 per barrel, December delivery of light, sweet crude hit $79.63 Wednesday. The spike occurred after the American Petroleum Institute said U.S. inventories fell by 4.3 million barrels in the week ending Nov. 13, MarketWatch reported.

"API figures for oil and product inventories were more bullish than initially forecast," wrote market analysts at JBC Energy GmbH.

Heating oil prices lost 0.009 cents Wednesday to $2.0495 per gallon. Reformulated gasoline prices rose 0.0106 cents to $2.0155 per gallon. Natural gas prices shed 0.27 cents to $4.26 per million British thermal units.

At the pump, the national average price of unleaded gasoline was $2.632 per gallon Wednesday, up from Tuesday's $2.627, AAA said.