Oil Prices Drop Again

Crude futures fell again Tuesday in New York as traders declined to make upside bets ahead of the upcoming OPEC meeting.

The jury is still out as to whether the world's largest oil-exporting group will raise output or leave it unchanged, but after several days of speculation, the answer is now just a few hours away.

For the session, January light sweet crude fell 99 cents to $88.32 a barrel, and natural gas lost 6 cents to $7.16 per million British thermal units. Reformulated gasoline was fractionally higher at $2.25 a gallon, and heating oil was also slightly better at $2.51 a gallon.

Cramer Drills for Info on Oil's Future

The decline in oil is the latest step backward for crude prices, which reached $99.29 intraday on Nov. 21. Since then, futures have fallen roughly 11%.

Oil appeared almost sure to rise above $100 during its run last month, but the upward momentum has faded. Still, despite the recent pullback, crude futures have surged 45% since the end of last year.

Aside from the OPEC meeting, investors will also have to keep an eye on the Energy Department, which will release its weekly inventory data on Wednesday. Those reports have the power to move prices significantly on the day they're released, particularly if they come in well away from what was expected.