NEW YORK, July 28 (UPI) -- Crude oil prices retreated Wednesday, falling to under $77 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Prices in recent weeks flirted with a push toward $80 per barrel, but prices failed to maintain that plateau with signs the global economic recovery was taking its time to press forward.

September contract light, sweet crude oil fell back from an overnight high of $77.74 to $76.80 by close of trading. August delivery New York Harbor No. 2 heating oil lost 0.0029 cents to $1.9935 per gallon. Reformulated blendstock gasoline for September delivery dropped 0.0044 cents to $2.0603 per gallon.

Henry Hub natural gas prices for September shed 0.028 cents to $4.69 per million British thermal units.

At the pump, the national average price for a gallon of unleaded gasoline was $2.745 Wednesday, gaining from Tuesday's $2.742 per gallon, AAA said.