Crude oil prices slide for fourth day

NEW YORK, Nov. 17 (UPI) -- Crude oil prices dropped for the fourth consecutive trading session Wednesday, dropping under $81 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Crude oil prices had been chugging along toward higher ground, breaking above $88 after the U.S. Federal Reserve announced early this month it would buy $600 billion of long-term treasury bonds. Since then, rising concern in Europe over Ireland's plans to bail out its banks has pushed the dollar higher, as confidence in the euro has dropped.

Although outside the eurozone, Britain on Wednesday said it would come to Ireland's aid, The New York Times reported. Ireland, however, remains "unwilling to give up control of its economic policy," Ken Wattret, a BNP Paribas economist, told the Times.

On Wednesday, December delivery light, sweet crude oil lost 2.2 percent or $1.89 to $80.45 per barrel. Heating oil prices shed 2.76 cents to $2.26 per gallon. Reformulated gasoline blendstock added 0.87 cents to $2.162 per gallon.

Henry Hub natural gas prices lost 0.5 cents to $4.025 per million British thermal units.

At the pump, the national average price of unleaded gasoline shed a 10th of a penny, dropping to $2.982 per gallon from Tuesday's $2.893, AAA said.