Crude oil slides on eurozone concerns

Crude oil prices in New York settled just under $98 per barrel Monday morning after last week's lukewarm reception to a European Union summit. Although proposals to tighten budget discipline and create a central authority for fiscal oversight found broad agreement among eurozone members, markets made only modest gains on the news. Investors are still concerned the fixes may not hold or may not be enough to prevent the euro from sliding further in a sluggish economy. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, West Texas Intermediate crude oil for January delivery lost $1.44 to reach $97.97 per barrel. Home heating oil gave up 0.09 cents to $2.9116 per gallon. Reformulated blendstock gasoline shed 2.41 cents to $2.572 per gallon. Henry Hub natural gas prices shed 7.5 cents to $3.242 per million British thermal units. At the pump, the national average price of unleaded gasoline fell from Sunday's $3.279 per gallon to $3.274, AAA said.