Oil prices hovered below $79 a barrel Tuesday in Asia, the Associated Press reported. Benchmark crude for December delivery was down 45 cents to $78.45 a barrel at late afternoon Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose $2.55 to settle at $78.90 on Monday. In other Nymex trading, heating oil fell 0.70 cent to $2.03 a gallon. Gasoline for December delivery dropped 1.29 cents to $1.97 a gallon. Natural gas for December delivery was steady at $4.61 per 1,000 cubic feet. In London, Brent crude for December delivery fell 41 cents to $78.37 on the ICE Futures exchange.
