Crude oil prices held over $80 per barrel Thursday on the New York Mercantile Exchange after a surge in prices escalated Wednesday.

Confidence in stock markets and reports of increased demand through 2010 gave oil prices a boost in the past two weeks. Prices soared Wednesday, adding $2.34 per barrel to reach more than $81 per barrel.

The prices of light, sweet crude settled overnight, dropping 71 cents to $80.66 per barrel. Heating oil prices lost 0.0098 cents to $2.0955 per gallon. Reformulated gasoline prices dropped 0.0226 cents to $2.0317 per gallon. Natural gas prices shed 0.009 cents to $5.091 per million British thermal units.

At the pump, the national average price of unleaded gasoline rose Thursday, reaching $2.616 per gallon, up from Wednesday's $2.596, AAA said.