Oil prices hovered near $79 a barrel Wednesday, The Associated Press reported. Benchmark crude for December delivery down 12 cents to $78.93 a barrel at late afternoon Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell 38 cents to settle at $79.05 on Tuesday. In other Nymex trading, heating oil was steady at $2.05 a gallon. Gasoline for December delivery fell 0.55 cent to $1.97 a gallon. Natural gas for December delivery was steady at $4.47 per 1,000 cubic feet. In London, Brent crude for December delivery rose 13 cents to $77.63 on the ICE Futures exchange.