Crude oil prices gain overnight

Investors have been anticipating a new round of Fed bond purchasing since August when Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke began hinting more purchases were a possibility.

The Fed's Open Market Committee is scheduled to announces its decision Wednesday. For many, the only surprise will be the size of the package.

December delivery crude oil added 42 cents overnight on the New York Mercantile Exchange to $84.25 per barrel. Heating oil prices rose 1.65 cents to $2.3101 per gallon. Reformulated gasoline blendstock gained 0.55 cents to $2.1151 per gallon.

Henry Hub natural gas prices dropped 1.2 cents to $3.858 per million British thermal units.

At the pump, the national average price of unleaded gasoline dropped under Tuesday's $2.80 to $2.799 per gallon, AAA said.

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