Crude oil prices close lower

NEW YORK, Nov. 19 (UPI) -- Crude oil prices dropped Wednesday on the New York Mercantile Exchange as U.S. inventories of crude oil and gasoline increased last week.

Crude oil prices, at a 22-month low, fell $1.21 Wednesday to $53.18 per barrel as the Energy Information Administration reported crude oil stockpiles rose by 1.6 million barrels, the eighth straight week of increases.

Gasoline stockpiles gained by a half million barrels in the week ending Nov. 14.

Heating oil prices fell slightly, down 0.0047 cents to $1.763 as winter temperatures settled in over much of the U.S. Northeast and Midwest.

Reformulated blendstock gasoline prices fell 0.0404 cents to $1.097, while natural gas prices rose 0.212 cents to $6.72 per million British thermal units.

At the pump, the national average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline fell 0.021 cents from Tuesday's prices to $2.047 day per gallon Wednesday, AAA said.