Crude oil drops on dour data

Crude oil prices slid near $105 per barrel Wednesday morning on economic data that came in below expectations. The U.S. Commerce Department said durable goods orders rose 2.2 percent in February, significantly less than the 3 percent economist expected. In Britain, the Office of National Statistics said the gross domestic produce fell 0.3 percent in the fourth quarter of 2011 compared to the third. Economists had expected a revised figure to show a 0.2 percent drop. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, May delivery West Texas Intermediate light sweet crude lost $2 overnight to hit $105.37 per barrel -- near the bottom of a recent trading range. Home heating oil shed 1.9 cents to $3.217 per gallon. Reformulated gasoline lost 4.8 cents to $3.3384 per gallon. Henry Hub natural gas prices lost 2.8 cents to $2.26 per million British thermal units. The national average price of unleaded gasoline reached $3.911 per gallon Wednesday, up from Tuesday's $3.898, AAA said.