China's report of declining crude oil imports and a report that tracked U.S. gasoline consumption as below last year's for the 29th consecutive week pressured prices Wednesday.

Energy prices made gains Thursday. Crude oil prices rose $3.72 cents to $59.37 per barrel. Heating oil prices gained 0.0826 cents to $1.9076 per gallon. Reformulated blendstock gasoline rose 0.0745 cents to $1.3145 per gallon. Natural gas prices gained 0.057 cents to $6.406 per million British thermal units.

At the pump, the average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline was $2.178 Thursday, down from Wednesday's $2.202 a gallon, AAA said.