Crude oil holds near $96

Crude oil prices held under $96 per barrel Tuesday with support provided by tropical storm Isaac, which caused closure of some Gulf Coast refineries. The Gulf Coast region is home to 44 percent of the country's refining capacity. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, West Texas Intermediate crude oil for October delivery added 34 cents to $95.81 per barrel. Natural gas shed 0.1 cents to $2.652 per million British thermal units. Home heating oil added 0.31 cents to $3.1226 per gallon. Reformulated blendstock gasoline lost 2.64 cents to $2.9236 a gallon. At the pump, the average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline was $3.756 per gallon Tuesday, up from Monday's $3.75, AAA reported.