Crude prices head up

New York -- Crude oil prices rose in overnight trading, gaining $1.95 on the New York Mercantile Exchange to reach $120.53 per barrel Thursday morning.

With waning demand in the U.S. and Saudi Arabia increasing production, "we are coming back to the basic supply-and-demand fundamentals," Peter Van Cleve, president of T.W. Energy Consulting, told The Wall Street Journal.

The previous price run that peaked in early July was "largely based on air," Van Cleve told the Journal.

Other energy commodity prices also escalated Thursday morning.

Heating oil prices rose 0.0419 cents $3.2798 per gallon. Reformulated blendstock gasoline prices rose 0.0547 cents to $3.004 per gallon. Natural gas prices rose 0.098 cents to $8.871 per million British thermal units.

The national average retail price of unleaded gasoline fell 0.013 cents to $3.849 per gallon Thursday, more than 25 cents below its July 17 record at $4.114 per gallon, the AAA Daily Fuel Gauge Report said.

Copyright 2008 by United Press International.