Crude oil holds above $101

Crude oil prices held steady above $101 per barrel Thursday after the U.S. Energy Information Administration said supplies declined slightly in the week. The EIA said crude oil inventories fell by 200,000 barrels of oil to 339.1 million and remain in the upper limit of the average range for this time of year. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet, West Texas Intermediate crude shed 9 cents to $101.71 per barrel. Home heating oil gave up 0.49 cents to $3.1867 per gallon. Reformulated gasoline added 1.54 cents to $3.0214 per gallon. Henry Hub natural gas prices added 2.7 cents to $2.452 per million British thermal units. At the pump, the national average price of unleaded gasoline added a half a cent, climbing to $3.523 per gallon Thursday from Wednesday's $3.518, AAA said.