Oil steady as \'Fiscal Cliff\'

Oil prices were little changed Monday as a U.S. budget deadline neared with Republicans and Democrats still at odd over key issues. Benchmark oil for February delivery was down 8 cents late morning in London at $90.72 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell 7 cents to finish at $90.80 per barrel in New York on Friday. The focus over the rest of the day will continue to focus on developments in Washington D.C. The Senate has to agree a deal by the end of Monday to avoid the so-called \'fiscal cliff\' of automatic tax increases and spending cuts. In London, Brent crude, used to price various kinds of foreign oil, fell 43 cents to $110.19 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange, according to a report of the Associated Press. In other energy futures trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange: - Wholesale gasoline fell 0.4 cents to $2.7958 a gallon. - Heating oil fell marginally to $3.020 a gallon. - Natural gas fell 0.02 cents to $3.460 per 1,000 cubic feet.