Crude prices drop more than $3 in New York

Crude oil prices dropped significantly Tuesday ahead of a meeting of OPEC oil ministers next week where it is hoped the oil cartel will take a decision to increase output in an attempt to pull prices further away from the $100 per barrel level than they have been for the past several weeks.

West Texas Intermediate crude January contracts fell $3.28 to $94.42 per barrel at the close of trade on the New York Mercantile Exchange, almost $5 lower than record highs above $99 per barrel set last week.

Nymex December gasoline was down 7 cents to $2.37 per gallon while January heating oil fell 5 cents to $2.66 per gallon and January natural gas dropped 22 cents to $7.81 per million British thermal units.

Meanwhile, at-the-pump prices for gasoline in the US were up 0.6 cent overnight to an average $3.091 per gallon nationwide, a reversal of slight declines in pump prices last week.