U.S. crude oil gained 2 cents in early trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange Friday to sell for $72.52 a barrel, UPI reported. Heating oil was up 0.45 cents at $2.1002 a gallon but reformulated gas dropped 0.63 cents at $2.2600 a gallon. Natural gas registered an early 0.06 cent increase at $6.56 per million thermal units. Gasoline at the pump increased slightly. An average gallon of regular unleaded brought $3.046 compared to Thursday's $3.026.