Crude oil prices near $40 per barrel

Crude oil prices dropped Friday on the New York Mercantile Exchange with prices down more than 20 percent in the past week and headed toward $40 per barrel.

Crude oil stood at $54.43 a barrel on Nov. 28 but lost $2.02 Friday, falling to $41.66 per barrel.

Heating oil prices gained 0.0665 cents to $1.4427 per gallon, while reformulated blendstock gasoline fell 0.0457 cents to 92 cents per gallon. Natural gas prices dropped 0.289 cents to $5.741 per million British thermal units.

At the pump, the average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline fell 0.016 cents to $1.773 a gallon Friday, AAA said.