October Futures Oil Commodity Continues Decline Natural Gas Price Rose

Commodity oil futures for October continued their decline Thursday as Enbridge Energy prepared to return Line 6A of its Lakehead pipeline system back to service and new government data indicated weaker demand for oil and gas. Light, sweet crude settled at $74.57, down $1.45 a barrel. Oil for October delivery peaked at $75.99 and bottomed out at $ 74.11 Thursday.

Commodty natural gas prices rose for the fifth consecutive day, settling at $4.07 per thousand cubic feet. Gas stockpiles increased by 103 billion cubic feet last week, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported Thursday. Compared to last year's net injection of 67 Bcf, data indicate a lower demand for gas-fired electricity. Working gas in storage exceeds the 5-year average for this time of the year in each of the storage regions since March 26, 2010.

The intraday range for natural gas was $3.85 to $4.14. Front-month gasoline futures settled at $1.92 per gallon. Gasoline fluctuated from $1.90 to $1.95 Thursday.