Crude oil price climbs toward $91

• Tweet

NEW YORK, Dec. 26 (UPI) -- Crude oil prices neared $91 per barrel Wednesday in New York.

Oil prices rose with traders concerned lawmakers in Washington wouldn't reach a deficit-reduction agreement before the end of the year, a development that could set the economic recovery back on its heels.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, West Texas Intermediate crude oil for February delivery added $2.30 to $90.91 per barrel. Home heating oil for February added 0.51 cents to $3.0406 a gallon. Reformulated blendstock gasoline shed 0.15 cents to $2.787 a gallon.

Natural gas prices lost 0.29 cents to $3.396 per million British thermal units.

At the pump, AAA reported the national average price for regular unleaded gasoline hit $3.247 per gallon, unchanged from Tuesday.