Crude oil holds above $94 per barrel

Crude oil held above $94 per barrel Thursday on the New York Mercantile Exchange following Wednesday's weekly U.S. stockpile report. Inventories dropped further than expected. The Energy Information Administration said U.S. stockpiles decreased by 3.7 million barrels in the week ending Saturday, about 2 million barrels more than traders had predicted. Supplies, at 366.2 million barrels, remain above the upper limit of the average range for this time of year, but the draw gave prices a late bounce Wednesday. Thursday morning, West Texas Intermediate crude oil for September delivery in New York added 13 cents to $94.46 per barrel. The natural gas price was 1 cent higher at $2.758 per million British thermal units. Home heating oil was up 0.4 cents at $3.0856 per gallon. Reformulated blendstock gasoline dropped 2.38 cents to reach $3.0602 a gallon. At the pump, the average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline was $3.71 Thursday, up from $3.709 Wednesday, AAA reported.