Crude oil slips under $107

NEW YORK, Feb. 28 (UPI) -- Crude oil prices closed under $107 per barrel Tuesday, as a new pricing plateau slipped away.

Tension in the Middle East has given rise to a roughly $10 bump from the previous plateau near $97 per barrel. Traders considered talk Tuesday of Japan increasing imports of home heating oil, lending the market some support.

But the pricing peak has faded with traders concerned that demand might fall slack with economies still on uncertain footing in Europe and the United States.

Dour durable goods data, down 4 percent in January, and worries over Greek debt put a stall in the recent crude oil rally.

April delivery West Texas Intermediate crude prices on the New York Mercantile Exchange shed more than 3 percent in the past two trading sessions to hit $106.57 per barrel Tuesday. Home heating oil added 0.79 cents to in late trading to $3.228 per gallon. Reformulated gasoline gained 0.25 cents to $3.2272 per gallon.

Henry Hub natural gas prices gained 1.7 cents to $2.536 per million British thermal units.

The national average price of unleaded gasoline climbed from Monday's $3.698 per gallon to $3.716 per gallon, AAA said.