WTI and Natural Gas Post Slight Gains on Thursday

 

Oil prices posted a slight gain Thursday as traders looked for signs of a balance between supply and demand, according to Bloomberg MarketWatch.

May West Texas Intermediate crude oil rose 7 cents, or 0.1%, to settle at $53.18 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Data from the Energy Information Administration this week showed a decline in weekly domestic crude supplies. It also revealed a jump in production to its highest level in more than a year.

Natural gas prices edged up after the EIA reported Thursday that domestic supplies of natural gas rose by 10 billion cubic feet for the week ending April 7. That was in line with the rise of between 9 million and 13 billion cubic feet expected by analysts polled by S&P Global Platts.

Natural gas for May rose 4 cents, or 1.3%, to $3.227 per million British thermal units on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The crude oil markets will be closed for Good Friday.