Crude oil prices dropped to under $79 per barrel Monday, falling nearly $1 under Friday's closing price.

Prices did not fall far enough to return to September's holding pattern near $70 per barrel. Prices in October have established a new holding pattern closer to $80 per barrel.

On Monday, the price of light, sweet crude, eased 92 cents from Friday's close to $78.71 per barrel. Heating oil prices added 0.0065 cents to $2.04 per gallon. Reformulated gasoline prices added 0.0062 cents to the same price, $2.04 per gallon. Natural gas prices added 0.011 cents to $4.524 per million British thermal units.

At the pump, the national average price for unleaded gasoline was $2.671 per gallon Monday, up from Sunday's $2.665, AAA said.