Near $92, oil doesn't budge

Crude oil prices held steady near $92 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange Tuesday. Equity markets pushed higher in Asia and Europe, but those are relatively indirect influences on oil prices. More direct influences -- tension in the Middle East and major economic reports -- were stable Tuesday morning. West Texas Intermediate crude for November delivery in New York gave up 16 cents overnight to $91.69 per barrel. Natural gas prices were unchanged at $3.432 per million British thermal units. Home heating oil lost 0.0062 cents to $3.2007 per gallon. Reformulated blendstock gasoline dropped 0.5 cents to $2.8502 per gallon. At the pump, the average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline was $3.773 per gallon, down from Monday's $3.787, AAA reported.