Crude oil settles back, but holds above $100

NEW YORK, Feb. 12 (UPI) -- Crude oil held above $100 per barrel in New York Wednesday morning after the government lowered its 2014 production forecast.

The Energy Information Administration dropped its forecast for U.S. production from 8.54 million barrels per day to 8.42 million.

While lower than the previous forecast, production is expected to be well ahead of 2013, when production averaged 7.44 million barrels per day.

Crude oil gave up 16 cents on the New York Mercantile Exchange to reach $100.24 per barrel.

Reformulated blendstock gasoline prices added 0.56 cents to $2.7582 per gallon. Heating oil prices shed 1.53 cents to $3.0149 per gallon.

Natural gas dropped 9 cents to $4.86 per million British thermal units.

At the pump, the national average price for a gallon of unleaded added 1 cent to reach $3.317 per gallon, the AAA Daily Fuel Gauge Report said.