Crude oil prices rise

NEW YORK, May 22 (UPI) -- Crude oil prices climbed Friday on the New York Mercantile Exchange in spite of reports demand would weaken in 2009.

Prices gained 57 cents to $61.55 per barrel. Heating oil prices gained 0.042 cents to $1.5315 per gallon. Reformulated blendstock gasoline rose 0.0225 cents to $1.8275 per gallon. Natural gas prices lost 0.098 cents to $3.508 per million British thermal units.

At the pump, the average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline was $2.391, up from Thursday's $2.362 a gallon, AAA said.