Crude oil settles near $100

NEW YORK, Feb. 9 (UPI) -- Crude oil prices settled under $100 per barrel Thursday in New York with prices staying within a recent trading range as inventories remained flat.

The U.S. Energy Information Agency said Wednesday crude oil supplies dropped by 300,000 barrels to 339.2 million barrels in the week ending Feb. 3. The marginal drop left supplies within the upper limit of the average range for this time of year.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet West Texas Intermediate crude oil hit a high of $99.89, but settled at $99.68 per barrel.

Home heating oil gained 0.65 cents to $3.215 per gallon. Reformulated gasoline shed 0.06 cents to reach $3.0122 per gallon.

Henry Hub natural gas prices gained 0.2 cents to $2.479 per million British thermal units.

At the pump, the national average price of unleaded gasoline rose to $3.488 per gallon Thursday from Wednesday's $3.483, AAA said.