The price of crude oil in New York topped $97 per barrel Thursday as equity markets in a tough week began to rebound. West Texas Intermediate crude oil for June delivery added 63 cents to $97.44 per barrel. Natural gas slipped overnight, losing 0.3 cents to $2.462 per million British thermal units. Home heating oil lost 0.49 cents to $2.9942 per gallon. Reformulated blendstock lost 0.84 cents to $3.0157 per gallon. At the pump, the national average price of unleaded gasoline dropped from Wednesday\'s $3.75 per gallon to $3.739, AAA said.