Crude oil tops $91

Crude oil prices topped $91 per barrel Thursday in a market made jittery by the death of Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez. Venezuela has the largest accessible oil reserves in the world. The prospect of a transition of power in the South American country puts oil traders on alert. The U.S. Energy Information Administration said Wednesday domestic crude oil inventories rose by 3.8 million barrels to 381.4 million barrels in the week ending Friday. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, West Texas Intermediate crude oil pushed above $91 Thursday, adding 86 cents to $91.36 per barrel. Gasoline shed 0.45 cents to $3.129 a gallon. Home heating oil added 0.26 cents to reach $2.9726 a gallon. Natural gas added 8.9 cents to hit $3.573 per million British thermal units. At the pump, the national average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline dropped from Wednesday's $3.727 per gallon to $3.719, the AAA Daily Fuel Gauge Report said.