Crude oil prices were down 2 cents at $81.42 a barrel in early trading Friday on the New York Mercantile Exchange, reported upi. Prices rallied Thursday to propel oil futures for November delivery beyond the $81 level with a $1.50 gain. Natural gas was down 7 cents to $7.34 per million British thermal units. Heating oil gained 0.30 cents at $2.2343 a gallon and reformulated gas rose 0.38 cents at $2.0560 a gallon. The price at the pump for an average gallon of regular unleaded gasoline was $2.771, down a fraction from Thursday's $2.779, the AAA said.