Crude oil falls below $86 per barrel

Crude oil prices declined on the New York Mercantile Exchange Friday, continuing a sell-off that began Thursday. A European Central Bank prediction that 2013 would see negative economic growth for the eurozone was underscored Friday with the German government lowering its forecast for 2013, as well. In New York, the price of West Texas Intermediate crude oil was down 33 cents to $85.93 per barrel. Home heating oil shed 2 cents to reach $2.9153 a gallon. Reformulated blendstock gasoline gained 1.02 cents to $2.6071 a gallon. Natural gas fell 12 cents to $3.545 per million British thermal units. At the pump, AAA reported a national average price for regular unleaded gasoline at $3.371 per gallon, down from Thursday's $3.379.