NEW YORK, May 16 (UPI) -- A week of falling crude oil prices ended abruptly Friday as speculator interest caused prices to surge on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

"There's still a strong feeling that any dip in the market is an opportunity to buy," energy analyst Gene McGillian told The Wall Street Journal Friday.

Crude oil prices gained 43 cents Friday afternoon to a record $126.72 per barrel.

Oil prices had already jumped $2.01 per barrel in overnight trading.

Heating oil prices rose 0.002 cents to $3.7048 per gallon Friday. Reformulated blendstock gasoline prices rose 0.0046 cents to $3.2281 per gallon. The price of natural gas also fell slightly, down 0.013 cents to $11.081 per million British thermal units.

At the pump, the national average price for a gallon of unleaded regular gasoline climbed to a record $3.787 per gallon, up from Thursday's $3.776 per gallon, AAA reported.