Crude oil prices on the New York Mercantile Exchange held under $80 per barrel overnight, although it is too early to declare a new holding pattern.

The price of light, sweet crude bolted out of a holding pattern between $65 and $72 early in October, but price hikes put on a burst of speed last week, propped up by renewed confidence in equity markets.

The price of crude oil added 13 cents Tuesday to $79.74 per barrel. Heating oil prices gained 0.0037 cents to $2.0559 per gallon. Reformulated gasoline prices rose 0.0048 cents to $1.9920 per gallon. Natural gas prices reached $5.075, up 0.24 cents.

At the pump, the national average price of unleaded gasoline rose Tuesday to $2.577 per gallon, up from Monday's $2.564, AAA said.