US oil slides off 6 week peak

Crude oil prices slid off of a six-week high Wednesday, as comments coming out of Libya suggested that exports at troubled ports could resume soon. Oil exports from Libya have slowed considerably for months due to security issues at major ports. But officials said ports could open within a week, the Wall Street Journal reported. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, West Texas Intermediate crude slid off of a six-week peak, dropping $1.02 to $97.49 per barrel. Reformulated gasoline blendstock for January gave up 1.82 cents to $2.6647 a gallon. January heating oil added 0.27 cents to reach $3.02 a gallon while natural gas added 10 cents to reach $4.34 per million British thermal units. The national average price of unleaded regular gasoline dropped slightly to $3.257 a gallon from Tuesday's $3.259 a gallon, the AAA Daily Fuel Gauge Report said.