NEW YORK, Dec. 12 (UPI) -- Crude oil prices fell Friday on the New York Mercantile Exchange as investors juggled bailout news from Washington and the expectation of productions cuts.
A major winter storm pushed across much of the United States Friday but investors appeared more concerned with a possible failure of General Motors Corp. or Chrysler LLC.
Members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries meet Dec. 17 in Algeria. Traders expect the cartel to agree to production quota cuts.
Crude oil prices fell 74 cents to $46.41 per barrel. Heating oil prices rose slightly, up 0.0006 cents to $1.4934 per gallon. Reformulated blendstock gasoline rose 0.0152 cents to $1.0777 per gallon. Natural gas prices fell 0.08 cents to $5.488 per million British thermal units.
At the pump, the average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline dropped to $1.656 Friday from Thursday's $1.664 a gallon, AAA said.
