Crude oil hangs above $87

Crude oil prices were little changed overnight, holding above $87 a barrel in New York Tuesday. West Texas Intermediate crude oil for January delivery added 49 cents to $87.69 per barrel, with traders focused on budget talks in Washington. A new budget in place before Jan. 1 would avert the so-called "fiscal cliff," a combination of spending cuts and tax hikes that economist say would push the U.S. economy back into a recession. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, home heating oil for January added 3.08 cents to $2.9871 a gallon. Reformulated blendstock gasoline gained 3.23 cents to $2.6869 a gallon. Natural gas prices added 7.5 cents to $3.433 per million British thermal units. At the pump, AAA reported a national average price for regular unleaded gasoline at $3.236 per gallon, down from Monday's $3.248.