NEW YORK, Dec. 4  -- Crude oil prices dropped to less than $44 a barrel Thursday on the New York Mercantile Exchange, hitting its lowest closing price in 35 months.

Crude oil prices have tracked downward since July amid signs of declining demand accelerated by weak economies.

Crude oil prices fell $3.09 to $43.68 per barrel. Heating oil prices fell 0.0718 cents to $1.5092 per gallon. Reformulated blendstock gasoline dropped to less than $1 per gallon, losing 0.0648 cents to 96.57 cents per gallon. Natural gas prices lost 0.347 cents to $6.03 per million British thermal units.

At the pump, the average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline was $1.789 Thursday, down from Wednesday's $1.803 a gallon, AAA said. (UPI)