Oil futures on Thursday were set to give back much of the strong gains scored in the previous trading session as investors weighed signs of stronger demand against mounting U.S. oil supplies. Natural-gas prices, meanwhile, dropped by more than 4% after U.S. government data showed that supplies fell less than expected last week despite the bitter cold in the eastern U.S. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, April crude CLJ5, -3.24% traded at $49.32 a barrel, down $1.67, or 3.3%. Brent crude for April delivery LCOJ5, -0.91% on London's ICE Futures exchange edged down by 36 cents, or 0.6%, to $61.27 a barrel. Nymex West Texas Intermediate crude gained 3.5% in Wednesday's session, snapping a five-session losing streak, while Brent crude had settled 5% higher on the back of bullish comments by Saudi Arabia's oil minister. Wednesday's U.S. weekly oil stockpile data was largely bearish with a larger-than-expected increase of 8.4 million barrels reported by the Energy Information Administration. But gasoline supplies fell by more than the market expected. "The global petroleum market may be in the process of rebalancing as low prices inhibit supply and encourage demand, but the market still has a clear current surplus, with much of the excess flowing into U.S. inventories," said Tim Evans, energy futures specialist at Citi Futures, in a note Thursday. On Nymex Thursday, the front-month March gasoline contract was up 2.2 cents, or 1.3%, at $1.741 a gallon, while March heating oil HOH5, +2.09% traded at $2.133 a gallon, up 2.9 cents, or 1.4%. April natural gas NGJ15, -5.42% fell 12 cents, or 4.2%, to 2.74 per million British thermal units on its first full trading day as a front-month contract. The EIA reported Thursday that supplies of natural gas declined by 219 billion cubic feet for the week ended Feb. 20. Analysts surveyed by Platts forecast a decline of between 239 billion cubic feet and 243 billion cubic feet. Source: MarketWatch
