Oil prices eased for the second day in a row on Friday after briefly hitting record territory above $75 a barrel on geopolitical tensions and rising gasoline demand, the Associated Press reports. Analysts said the two-day pullback reflected profit-taking after oil futures had risen in nine straight trading sessions beginning June 21.

Light sweet crude for August delivery climbed as high as $75.78 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange before sliding back to $74.75, down 39 cents. The previous intraday record was $75.40 set Wednesday. Nymex gasoline futures were steady at $2.2525 a gallon. Oil futures are roughly 24 percent higher than a year ago. The average retail price of gasoline is $2.94 a gallon, or 32 percent above year ago levels.