Crude oil prices surged above $74 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange Tuesday after oil exporters forecast demand will increase this year and next.

In the monthly status report for October, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries said demand would jump by 200,000 barrels a day through the end of the year to 84.2 million barrels a day. OPEC forecast demand would climb in 2010 to 84.9 million barrels a day, still slightly below 2007-2008 levels of more than 85 million barrels.

In New York, the price of light, sweet crude gained $1.05 to $74.42 per barrel. Heating oil prices rose 0.02601 cents to $1.9241 per gallon. Reformulated gasoline prices added 0.036 cents to $1.835 per gallon. Natural gas prices fell 0.164 cents to $4.616 per million British thermal units.

At the pump, the national average price of unleaded gasoline was $2.478 per gallon Tuesday, down from Monday's $2.482, AAA said.