Crude oil prices hold steady

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NEW YORK, May 19 (UPI) -- Crude oil prices held steady Thursday following a government report that said U.S. stockpiles were unchanged in the week ending May 13.

The Energy Information Administration said Wednesday crude oil inventories held at 370.3 million barrels during the week, while gasoline inventories rose by 100,000 barrels to 205.9 million barrels.

Home heating oil stockpiles, however, saw a drawdown of 1.2 million barrels to 143.1 million barrels, giving distillate fuel a pricing boost.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, June delivery crude oil 34 cents to $98.78 per barrel. Reformulated blendstock gasoline lost 1.4 cents to $2.89 per gallon. Home heating oil added 0.36 cents to $2.8983 per gallon.

Henry Hub natural gas prices gained 0.6 cents to $4.10 per million British thermal units.

At the pump, the national average price of unleaded gasoline dropped for the fifth consecutive day, falling to $3.905 per gallon, down from Wednesday's $3.926, AAA said.