US crude oil falls slightly $104

Crude oil prices slid modestly Monday, dropping 17 cents to $104.53 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. West Texas Intermediate crude has held fairly steady since Friday. Disappointing manufacturing data from China has kept prices from trending higher. Reformulated blendstock gasoline was off 2.46 cents $2.9787 per gallon. Home heating oil added 0.88 cents to $3.0219 per gallon. Natural gas dropped 8.6 cents to $3.477 per million British thermal units. At the pump, the national average price for a gallon of unleaded regular gasoline was $3.631 Monday, down from Sunday's $3.634, the AAA Fuel Gauge report said.