Oil futures jumped 14% Thursday to end near $40 a barrel

NEW YORK- Oil futures jumped 14% Thursday to end near $40 a barrel, marking the biggest one-day gain since the end of last year, after U.S. inventories showed a surprise decline last week as consumption started picking up. The U.S. consumed nearly 20 million barrels a day of petroleum products over the past four weeks, up 2.6% from a month ago to the highest level in one year, data from the Energy Information Administration showed.

Meanwhile, crude inventories fell by 200,000 barrels last week. Most analysts were expecting a buildup of 2 million to 4 million barrels. Crude oil for March delivery rose $4.86 to end at $39.48 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange."With gasoline prices two-thirds of last year at the pump it isn't a big surprise to see us using more gasoline even though many are losing jobs," said James Williams, an economist at energy research firm WTRG Economics. "There is no way to read this report that isn't bullish." The March contract will expire at the end of trading on Friday. Trading more actively, April crude gained 7.4% to $40.18 a barrel.

Inventories data: U.S. oil inventories excluding those in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve fell 200,000 to stand at 350.6 million barrels in the week ended Feb. 13, the EIA reported Thursday. The data were one day late due to the Presidents Day holiday. Inventories at Cushing, Okla., the delivery point for oil futures traded on the Nymex, stood at their record level of 34.9 million barrels, unchanged from a week ago.Total products supplied over the last four-week period averaged 19.95 million barrels per day, down just 0.1% compared to the similar period last year. Excluding jet fuel, petroleum demand actually rose 1.2% from a year ago. U.S. refineries operated at 82.3% of their operable capacity last week, still a low level but up from the previous week's 81.6%. The EIA also reported motor gasoline inventories increased by 1.1 million barrels last week, and distillate fuel inventories, which includes diesel and heating oil, decreased by 800,000 barrels.

The American Petroleum Institute, a trade association of the oil and natural gas industry, reported late Wednesday that crude-oil stocks rose by 1.6 million barrels for the week ended Feb. 13. Total motor gasoline stocks increased by 1.6 million barrels, while distillate stocks fell by 875,000 barrels, the API said. The API calculates inventories based on different criteria from the Energy Department. On the Nymex, March reformulated gasoline rose 3.1% to $1.0986 a gallon and March heating oil rose 5% to $1.2045 a gallon.

Natural gas: Natural gas futures fell Thursday after data showed U.S. inventories fell less than expected. Natural gas for March delivery fell 3.2%, to $4.078 per million British thermal units on the Nymex. U.S. natural gas inventories fell by 24 billion cubic feet in the week ended Feb. 13, the Energy Information Administration reported. Analysts at IHS Global Insight had expected a withdrawal of 87 billion cubic feet. At 1,996 billion cubic feet, stocks were 177 billion cubic feet higher than last year at this time and 155 billion cubic feet above the five-year average, the EIA said.(Source: Market Watch)