Crude oil prices up slightly

New York -- Crude oil prices rose Wednesday to about $115 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, following Tuesday's gain prompted by the depreciating U.S. dollar.

"The major catalyst is the dollar," Mark Waggoner, president of Excel Futures told The Wall Street Journal. "It's more important than anything else as far as I'm concerned."

Crude oil prices gained 37 cents overnight to $114.90 per barrel. Heating oil prices rose 0.0118 cents to $3.1355 per gallon. Reformulated blendstock gasoline prices rose 0.0121 cents to $2.876 per gallon. Natural gas prices rose 0.17 cents to $8.146 per million British thermal units.

The national average retail price of unleaded regular gasoline fell 0.013 cents from Tuesday's price to $3.717 per gallon, the AAA Daily Fuel Gauge Report said.

Copyright 2008 by United Press International.