NEW YORK - Crude oil prices fell more than $1 a barrel Thursday to their lowest level in five months as U.S. inventories of natural gas rose, easing fears that there won't be enough fuel to heat homes as winter approaches.
Light, sweet crude for December delivery fell $1.55 to finish at $56.33 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange - its lowest settlement price since June 15, when front-month crude settled at $54.45.
The news sent stocks surging higher Thursday. The falling prices, along with a report on manufacturing that eased inflation concerns, carried the Nasdaq composite index to a 52-week high.
The U.S. Department of Energy's Energy Information Administration said Thursday that natural gas inventories rose by 53 billion cubic feet to 3.28 trillion cubic feet for the week ending Nov. 11.
A day earlier, the administration reported that in the past week the supply of distillates, which includes heating oil, jet fuel and diesel, grew by 2.6 million barrels to 123.4 million barrels, or 3 percent above year-ago levels.
Heating oil fell more than 3 cents to settle at $1.6970 a gallon. Unleaded gas fell more than 2 cents to finish at $1.4595, while natural gas fell 38.7 cents to settle at $11.942 per million British thermal units.
Both natural gas and heating oil heat American homes.
"We're well-supplied on all fronts right now," said analyst John Kilduff of brokerage Fimat USA, adding that oil traders' fear of surging demand has yet to happen. Distillate-fuel demand in the past week was less than 1 percent higher than year-ago levels, the Energy Information Administration said Wednesday.
Still, the possibility of an extremely cold winter is keeping prices from falling further. A long cold snap could boost demand for heating oil and drive up energy prices.
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