Oil futures were higher Thursday, while natural-gas prices gained more ground after separate data showed a bigger-than-expected rise in weekly U.S. crude supplies and an increase in natural-gas inventories that was below market expectations.
October West Texas Intermediate crude tacked on $1.55 cents, or 3.5%, to $45.71 U.S. a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange after dropping 3.9% a day earlier. Oil prices had pared some of their earlier gains before pushing toward session highs later.
Brent crude was up $1.12, or 2.3%, to $48.65 U.S. a barrel on London’s ICE Futures exchange.
On Thursday, the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported an increase of 2.6 million barrels in crude supplies for the week ended Sept. 4. Analysts polled by Platts forecast a crude-stock climb of 300,000 barrels, while the American Petroleum Institute Wednesday said supplies gained by 2.1 million barrels, according to sources.
Total weekly domestic oil production edged down by 83,000 barrels to 9.14 million barrels a day, EIA report showed.
In a separate report issued Wednesday, the EIA said U.S. oil production fell to a nearly one-year low in August and was likely to keep falling well into 2016. But the government agency also lowered its 2015 and 2016 price estimates for WTI and Brent crude.
Meanwhile, gasoline supplies rose 400,000 barrels while distillate stockpiles climbed by one million barrels last week, according to the EIA’s petroleum inventory data.
On Nymex, October gasoline was up 2.8 cents, or 2.1%, at $1.388 U.S. a gallon, while October heating oil tacked on 2.5 cents, or 1.6%, to $1.563 U.S. a gallon.
Meanwhile, natural-gas prices added to earlier gains after the EIA reported that supplies of the commodity rose 68 billion cubic feet for the week ended Sept. 4. Analysts polled by Platts forecast a climb of between 72 billion cubic feet and 76 billion cubic feet.
October natural gas traded at $2.725 U.S. per million British thermal units, up 7.4 cents, or 2.8%.
