Crude, gasoline end year with late rally

NEW YORK, Dec. 29 (UPI) -- Crude oil and gasoline futures staged a late-day rally in New York Friday to end the year and begin a four-day weekend with the price of oil above $61 a barrel.

Light, sweet crude for February delivery gained 52 cents to settle at $61.05 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange after gaining 19 cents Thursday.

Natural gas futures rose 5.1 cents to $6.299 per million Btu.

January heating oil fell 0.0252 cents to $1.5979 a gallon.

Unleaded gasoline rose 0.0041 cents to $1.6021.

AAA said Friday the average U.S. retail gasoline price was $2.333 a gallon, the same price as it was Thursday.