Crude oil prices slide Tuesday

NEW YORK, Nov. 10 (UPI) -- Crude oil prices closed below $79 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, as a once threatening storm dissipated in the Gulf of Mexico.

Briefly at hurricane strength, the late season storm Ida's threat to Gulf Coast supply lines has waned along with the storm's power. The price of light, sweet crude dropped 59 cents Tuesday to $78.84 per barrel.

Heating oil prices lost 0.0167 cents to $2.046 per gallon. Reformulated gasoline prices dropped 0.0118 cents to $1.97 per gallon. Natural gas prices lost 0.208 cents to $4.462 per million British thermal units.

Gasoline prices at the retail level fell. At the pump, the national average price of unleaded gasoline was $2.658 per gallon Tuesday, down from Monday's $2.664, AAA said.