NEW YORK, Jan. 14 (UPI) -- Crude oil prices slipped lower on the New York Mercantile Exchange Thursday, heading toward $79 per barrel on a report that U.S. inventories rose last week.
Putting downward pressure on prices, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said Wednesday stockpiles of crude oil rose 3.7 million barrels in the week ending Jan 8.
On the other side of the coin, cold weather and signs of an economic recovery are exerting upward pressure.
On Thursday, the price of light, sweet crude dropped 73 cents to $79.20 per barrel. Heating oil prices lost 0.0183 cents to $2.0763 per gallon. Reformulated gasoline prices rose 0.0101 cents to $2.0703 per gallon. Natural gas prices shed 0.123 cents to $5.61 per million British thermal units.
At the pump, the national average price of unleaded gasoline was $2.758 per gallon Thursday, up slightly from Wednesday's $2.757, AAA said.
