Crude oil prices hold up Thursday

January 21, 2010 - 0 comments

New York -- Crude oil prices made slight gains Thursday, closing in on $78 per barrel despite a shake-up in equity markets.

Equity markets fell in Asia, Europe and the United States Wednesday. With winter weather mild in many regions, traders waited Thursday for a U.S.

inventory report delayed a day due to Monday's Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.

On Thursday morning, the price of light, sweet crude rose 19 cents to $77.93 per barrel. Heating oil prices rose 0.036 cents to $2.0247 per gallon.

Reformulated gasoline prices added 0.098 cents to $2.0563 per gallon. Natural gas prices added 0.121 cents to $5.617 per million British thermal units.

At the pump, the national average price of unleaded gasoline dropped to $2.733 per gallon Thursday from Wednesday's $2.737, AAA said.