West Texas Intermediate crude oil eases back in New York With his keys dangling, a driver watches the pump as his car is filled at a lower priced gas station in Denver on April 15, 2011. Consumers paid an average price of $3.83 a gallon nationwide on Wednesday according to the travel group AAA. NEW YORK, Dec. 5 (UPI) -- Crude oil prices slid toward $88 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, as traders waited for a weekly report on U.S. petroleum product inventories. Traders are expecting a slight draw down for the week. The price of West Texas Intermediate crude oil, however, dropped 34 cents to $88.26 per barrel Wednesday morning. Home heating oil added 0.26 cents to reach $3.0066 a gallon, while reformulated blendstock gasoline lost 1.2 cents to $2.677 a gallon. Henry Hub natural gas gained 5.4 cents to $3.597 per million British thermal units. At the pump, AAA reported a national average price for regular unleaded gasoline at $3.38 per gallon, down a tenth of a cent from Tuesday's $3.381.