The price of oil fell to near $86 a barrel on Thursday after critical budget negotiations in Washington reached an apparent impasse.

By early afternoon in Europe, benchmark oil for January delivery was down 60 cents to $86.17 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract finished 98 cents higher at $86.77 a barrel in New York on Wednesday after the U.S. Federal Reserve announced new stimulus measures to help the slow-growing U.S. economy.