US crude oil regains $97

Crude oil prices added 33 cents to reach $97.38 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange Friday morning. Reformulated blendstock gasoline moved higher, adding 0.08 cents to $2.7289 per gallon. Home heating oil added 0.62 cents to reach $2.8942 per gallon. Natural gas gained 1 cent to $3.592 per million British thermal units. At the pump, the average price for a gallon of unleaded regular gasoline was $3.514, down from Thursday's $3.528, the AAA Fuel Gauge report said. Traders are taking their cue from U.S. Federal Reserve officials who have been spreading the word that the Fed is not in a hurry to change monetary policy. Commodity and equity markets reacted quickly to Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke's recent remarks concerning the central bank unwinding its $85 billion per month quantitative easing program. On Thursday, week New York Fed President William Dudley, Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart and Jerome Powell a Federal Reserve governor, each made comments meant to calm market fears of a quick stimulus withdrawal. Copyright 2013 United Press International, Inc. (UPI). Any reproduction, republication, redistribution and/or modification of any UPI content is expressly prohibited without UPI's prior written consent.