Crude oil tops $101

Crude oil prices topped $101 per barrel in New York Thursday after the American Petroleum Institute said U.S. inventories fell last week. The API said inventories dropped by 4.8 million barrels in the week ending Friday. With prices supported by tension in the Middle East, the inventory report sent West Texas Intermediate crude oil for February up 72 cents to $101.31 per barrel. Heating oil prices added 1.48 cents to $3.0282 per gallon. Reformulated blendstock gasoline gained 0.89 cents to $2.8381 per gallon. Henry Hub natural gas prices on the New York Mercantile Exchange shed 5.8 cents to $2.414 per million British thermal units. At the pump, the national average price of unleaded gasoline was unchanged from Wednesday's $3.378, AAA said.