Crude oil prices topped $96 in New York Tuesday morning with prices buoyed by a prolonged rally in equities. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, West Texas Intermediate crude oil added 43 cents to $96.13 per barrel. Gasoline prices dropped 1.98 cents to $2.877 a gallon. Home heating oil added 1.47 cents to $2.9406 a gallon. Natural gas lost 0.9 cents to reach $4.119 per million British thermal units.