NEW YORK, Dec. 16 (UPI) — Crude oil prices held close to $88 per barrel Thursday in New York as the dollar overrode concerns of a cut in U.S. stockpiles.

The Energy Information Administration late Wednesday announced crude oil supplies had dropped by 9 million barrels in the week ending Dec. 10, the largest weekly decline in eight years.

The news was trumped by a stronger dollar, the dollar index rising 1.07 percent Wednesday. On Thursday, the dollar pivoted, the index falling 0.22 percent.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, the price of January delivery light, sweet crude moved 51 cents lower to $88.11 per barrel. Heating oil prices shed 0.35 cents to a prior settlement to $2.48 per gallon. Reformulated blendstock gasoline prices gained 0.27 cents to $2.3119 per gallon. Henry Hub natural gas prices shed 2.08 cents to $4.014 per million British thermal units.

At the pump, the national average price of unleaded gasoline was unchanged Thursday at $2.984 per gallon, AAA said.

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