U.S. oil prices steady Tuesday

NEW YORK, June 18 (UPI) -- The price for a barrel of crude oil held steady above $98 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange Tuesday.

World leaders in Northern Ireland, meeting for a Group of Eight summit, have been discussing the crisis in Syria, which has raised concern of a possible disruption in crude oil supplies from the region.

Traders are also waiting for the results of a two-day monetary policy meeting at the U.S. Federal Reserve. In advance of an announcement, investors often hold off on making big market bets.

On Tuesday, West Texas Intermediate crude oil in New York added 11 cents to $98.57 per barrel. Reformulated blendstock gasoline lost 1.27 cents to $2.888 a gallon.

Home heating oil dropped 0.32 cents to $2.9634 a gallon.

Natural gas gained 10.3 cents to $3.911 per million British thermal units.

At the pump, the average price for a gallon of unleaded regular gasoline was $3.607, down from Monday's $3.611, the AAA Fuel Gauge report said.