Crude oil prices drop on demand concerns

NEW YORK, Nov. 19 (UPI) -- Crude oil prices dropped to under $78 per barrel in part because the weather has been nice, industry analysts said.

The price of December delivery light, sweet crude "fell below $80 per barrel, as the U.S. dollar rebounded against the euro, and unseasonably mild weather in the United States raised concerns about crude oil demand levels," wrote analysts at Sucden Financial Research, MarketWatch reported Thursday.

In trading Thursday, crude oil prices shed $1.87 cents to $77.76 per barrel. Heating oil prices lost 0.0502 cents to $1.9993 per gallon. Reformulated gasoline lost 0.0455 cents to $1.97 per gallon. Natural gas prices added 0.102 cents to $4.362 per million British thermal units.

At the pump, the national average price of unleaded gasoline was $2.638 per gallon Thursday, up from Wednesday's $2.632, AAA said.