Oil maintains rebound

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NEW YORK, April 17 (UPI) -- Crude oil prices overtook $104 per barrel Tuesday in New York as traders reacted to news that the 512-mile Seaway pipeline would change direction in May.

Enterprise Products Partners LP said it was aiming for May 17, not June 1, for the time to turn the direction of the flow of oil in the pipeline toward the East Coast from Cushing, Okla.

The move narrowed the per barrel pricing gap between West Texas Intermediate crude oil, priced in New York and Brent crude oil, which is priced in London.

Brent crude for June delivery was priced at $118.78 a barrel Tuesday. WTI crude oil for May delivery in New York, on a two-day upswing, added 90 cents to reach $104.29 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Home heating oil prices shed 1 cent to $3.1265 per gallon. Reformulated blendstock gasoline lost 4.9 cents to $3.2291 per gallon.

Natural gas prices added 2.5 cents to $1.95 per million British thermal units.

At the pump, the national average price of unleaded gasoline, unchanged from Sunday to Monday, dropped to $3.904 per gallon Tuesday from $3.907, AAA said.