Crude prices lower again on session

Crude oil prices were lower Thursday, with prices for May contracts of West Texas Intermediate falling below $100 per barrel for the first time in 15 days during the session before regaining some of those losses.

Much of the declines were attributed to profit-taking after record high prices earlier.

May WTI ended the session down 93 cents from Wednesday’s close to $101.61 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange while Brent crude for May delivery fell 45 cents to $100.27 per barrel on the ICE Futures Europe exchange in London.

WTI dropped by around 9 percent this week while Brent was down 6.8 percent on the week as some investors bet that May crude will go below $75 per barrel.

Nymex April gasoline added 1 cent to $2.57 per gallon while May heating oil dropped 7 cents to $2.88 per gallon and May natural gas gained 6 cents to $9.17 per million British thermal units.