The price of crude oil in New York topped $97 per barrel Thursday as equity markets in a tough week began to rebound. West Texas Intermediate crude oil for June delivery added 31 cents to $97.08 per barrel. Natural gas added 2.2 cents to $2.487 per million British thermal units. Home heating oil lost 1.57 cents to $2.9834 per gallon. Reformulated blendstock lost 1.39 cents to $3.0102 per gallon. At the pump, the national average price of unleaded gasoline dropped from Wednesday\'s $3.75 per gallon to $3.739, AAA said.