US crude oil tumbles on Fed news

The price for a barrel of crude oil on the New York Mercantile Exchange dropped $3.11 to $95.37 per barrel Thursday. Prices fell in response to a drop in equity markets triggered by U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's remarks at a press conference that the central bank would begin to wind down its asset purchasing program this year. Price pressure was also provided by the Energy Information Administration, which said crude oil supplies rose by 313,000 barrels in the week -- a surprise to some as economists had predicted supplies would drop. Reformulated blendstock gasoline lost 10.49 cents to $2.7785 a gallon. Home heating oil gave up 9.74 cents to $2.8751 a gallon. Natural gas shed 7.4 cents to $3.889 per million British thermal units. At the pump, the average price for a gallon of unleaded regular gasoline was $3.598, down from Wednesday's $3.603, the AAA Fuel Gauge report said.