Oil holds near $83

Crude oil prices held near $83 per barrel in New York Thursday morning despite a large draw down in U.S. inventories. The U.S. Energy Information Administration said stockpiles of crude oil declined 5.2 million barrels to 349.8 million in the week ending last Friday. But jitters over a stalled global recovery, including slower growth in China and debt concerns in Europe and the United States, are putting pressure on oil prices. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, West Texas Intermediate crude oil shed 5 cents to reach $82.91 per barrel. Home heating oil added 0.49 cents to $2.8702 per gallon. Reformulated blendstock gasoline prices rose 2.87 cents to $2.8112 per gallon. Henry Hub natural gas prices shed 0.7 cents to $3.996 per million British thermal units. At the pump, the national average price of unleaded gasoline dropped to $3.62 per gallon from Wednesday's $3.637, AAA said.