Crude oil drops Tuesday

NEW YORK, April 3 (UPI) -- Crude oil price futures held close to $104 per barrel Tuesday, as the tail began to wag the dog in European energy markets.

With Europe predicted to skid into a double-dip recession, traders are viewing oil as having the potential to slow down Europe's manufacturing sector even further. Unemployment in the eurozone ticked higher to 10.8 percent in February, Eurostat said this week. That is offsetting the pressure on prices put into place with the European Union agreeing to impose sanctions against Iran for its suspected nuclear weapons program.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, May delivery crude oil shed $1.19 cents to $104.09 per barrel. Home heating oil added 0.92 cents to $3.2367 per gallon. Reformulated blendstock gasoline added 0.59 cents to $3.4013 per gallon.

Natural gas prices lost 2 cents to $2.167 per million British thermal units.

At the pump, the national average price of unleaded gasoline dropped to $3.923 from Monday's $3.925, AAA said.