Crude oil climbed early, but closed only a penny ahead WASHINGTON, Dec. 3 (UPI) -- Crude oil prices headed higher in early trading Monday on the New York Mercantile Exchange, then reversed course and slipped back under $89 per barrel. In New York, West Texas Intermediate crude oil closed in on $90 per barrel in early going, but ended the session just a penny ahead at $88.92 a barrel. Home heating oil shed 0.45 cents to reach $3.0562 a gallon, while reformulated blendstock gasoline lost 0.47 cents to $2.7255 a gallon. Henry Hub natural gas shed 1 cent in late trading to $3.59 per million British thermal units.