Oil prices climb, near $73 a barrel

NEW YORK, July 6 (UPI) -- U.S. crude oil prices rose $1 Friday to close out the week at $72.81 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The steady rise was at least partially triggered by unrest in Nigeria and below average U.S. refining activity, sources said.

Oil prices chalked up a 3 percent increase for the week.

Natural gas continued its slide, losing 17.4 cents, or 2.6 percent, to close at $6.444 per million British thermal units.

Heating oil was up 0.78 cent to close at $2.0951 a gallon, up 2 percent for the week. Reformulated gas closed up 2.53 cents at $2.3096 a gallon, up 2 percent for the week.

At the pump, the average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline rose to $2.952 from $2.949, the AAA Daily Fuel Gauge report said.