Oil prices close over $71 a barrel

NEW YORK, Aug. 24 (UPI) -- Crude oil prices climbed back over the $71 barrier Friday and gained $1.26 to finish at $71.09 a barrel on the New York Mercantile.

But, crude wound up with a 1 percent loss for the week after three losing sessions.

Natural gas lost 21.2 cents and finished Friday at $5.523 per one million British thermal units.

Heating oil was up 3.82 cents at $1.9972 a gallon and reformulated gas was up 5.8 cents at $1.9814 a gallon.

The average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline at the pump was $2.768, just more than a penny less than Thursday’s price, the AAA said in its Daily Fuel Gauge Report.