Crude oil holds above $87

Crude oil prices held above $87 a barrel in New York Monday with an unusually warm December putting pressure on prices. Demand for natural gas dropped 14 percent in the week ending Thursday, taking natural gas close to a seven-week low Monday at $3.34 per million British thermal units, although prices were up from an overnight low of $3.314. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, West Texas Intermediate crude oil for January delivery dropped 30 cents to $87.43 a barrel. Home heating oil for January delivery was off 2.44 cents to $2.9563 a gallon. Reformulated blendstock gasoline shed 0.75 cents to $2.6546 a gallon. At the pump, AAA reported a national average price for regular unleaded gasoline at $3.248 per gallon, down from Sunday's $3.257.