Crude oil slides off of 2-year high

January delivery crude oil dropped from a 26-month high of $91.37 per barrel to $89.26, a 2.3 percent drop. Heating oil prices also fell, but recovered adding 0.49 cents to $2.4935 per gallon. Reformulated blendstock gasoline trended higher off a recent settlement, adding 1.19 cents to $2.364 per gallon. Henry Hub natural gas prices added 11.5 cents to $4.464 per million British thermal units.

At the pump, the national average price of unleaded gasoline rose Monday from Sunday's $2.939 per gallon to $2.951, AAA said.

U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said Sunday the central bank would, if necessary, expand its $600 billion bond purchasing program.

Bernanke cautioned the economic recovery remained fragile, causing investors to pull back after a three-day winning streak on Wall Street.

Copyright 2010 United Press International