Crude oil holds close to $86

Crude oil prices held close to $86 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange as traders waited for a delayed inventory report. The Energy Information Administration delayed their weekly report on U.S. stockpiles by one day due to Monday's Veterans Day holiday. It is expected Thursday afternoon with traders anticipating an inventory draw of about 1 million barrels. With equities failing to pull out of a prolonged slump Thursday, West Texas Intermediate crude oil in New York lost 30 cents overnight to $86.02 per barrel. Reformulated blendstock gasoline added 0.46 cents to $2.6836 per gallon overnight. Home heating oil prices added 0.19 cents to $2.9901 per gallon. Natural gas prices added 4.7 cents to $3.807 per million British thermal units. At the pump, the national average price of unleaded gasoline fell to $3.438 per gallon from Wednesday's $3.443, AAA said.