Crude oil eases back Wednesday

Crude oil prices ended below $86 a barrel Wednesday on the New York Mercantile Exchange, as U.S. stockpiles held steady in the week. West Texas Intermediate crude oil dropped 49 cents to $86.69 a barrel. Home heating oil up 0.28 cents in late trading to $3.0237 a gallon while reformulated blendstock gasoline lost 0.01 cents to $2.6876 a gallon. Henry Hub natural gas added 1.4 cent to $3.815 per million British thermal units. The U.S. Energy Information Administration said U.S. stockpiles fell by 300,000 barrels in the week to 374.1 million barrels -- a slim change compared to some weeks. Stocks remain well above the upper limit of the average range for this time of year, the agency said. At the pump, AAA reported regular unleaded gasoline selling for $3.415 per gallon, down from Tuesday's $3.419.