A two-day surge in heating oil futures...

A two-day surge in heating oil futures prices turned into a small speculative rally that ran out of steam, leaving oil prices lower. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, the January delivery price of West Texas Intermediate, the main U.S. crude oil, closed at $18.74 per 42-gallon barrel, down 13 cents from Thursday, when it had risen 31 cents after a 10-cent gain on Wednesday.