Oil near $97 ahead of inventories, fed Statement

The price of oil fell Wednesday, dragged down by expectations of rising crude inventories and a further cut in U.S. central bank stimulus.Benchmark U.S. crude for March delivery was down 14 cents to $97.27 a barrel at 0510 GMT in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract surged 1.8 percent or $1.69 to close at $97.41 a barrel on Tuesday.Brent crude, used to set prices for international varieties of crude, was up 11 cents at $107.52 on the ICE exchange in London.In other energy futures trading in New York:— Wholesale gasoline was up 0.7 cent at $2.645 a gallon.— Natural gas fell 4.3 cents to $4.99 per 1,000 cubic feet — Heating oil price was up 0.3 cent at $2.997 a gallon.