Crude oil prices settled down Friday, a day after climbing to the year's high of nearly $78 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The prices of light, sweet crude had escalated sharply during the week on signs that demand could pick up with a sustained economic recovery.

Crude oil prices lost 33 cents overnight to $77.50 per barrel. Heating oil prices lost 0.0044 cents to $2.0137 per gallon. Reformulated gasoline prices shed 0.0015 cents to $1.9434 per gallon. Natural gas prices gained 0.129 cents to $4.611 per million British thermal units.

At the pump, the national average price for unleaded gasoline was $2.501 per gallon Friday, up from Thursday's $2.487, AAA said.