Crude oil prices regain some lost ground

Crude oil has lost ground in the past four trading sessions. After a sharp upward bump provided by the U.S. Federal Reserve's $600 billion bond purchasing program, prices were undermined by European Union negotiations to bail out Irish banks and suggestions in China that more would be done to curb inflation.

January delivery crude oil opened at $81.04 Thursday and tacked on $1.16 to $82.20 per barrel, as the U.S. Energy Information Administration said Wednesday that crude oil supplies dropped by 7.3 million barrels to 357.6 million in the week ending Nov. 12.

Heating oil prices also rebounded overnight, adding 3.9 cents to $2.2909 per gallon. Reformulated gasoline blendstock added 3.15 cents to $2.1349 per gallon. Henry Hub natural gas prices lost 5.5 cents to $3.975 per million British thermal units.

At the pump, the national average price of unleaded gasoline retreated to $2.888 per gallon from Wednesday's $2.892, AAA said.

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