Crude oil prices fell to just under $79 per barrel Wednesday morning in advance of a U.S. inventory report due in the afternoon.

The price of light, sweet crude dropped 56 cents overnight to $78.99 per barrel. Heating oil prices fell 0.01 cents to $2.0451 per gallon. Reformulated gasoline prices dropped 0.0139 cents to $2.0566 per gallon. Natural gas prices added 0.005 cents to $4.562 per million British thermal units.

At the pump, the average price of unleaded gasoline rose Wednesday. Prices at the pump averaged $2.683 per gallon Wednesday, up from Tuesday's $2.675, AAA said.