Oil prices briefly fell below $50 per barrel Thursday for the first time since May 25, 2005, after the U.S. government reported larger-than-expected jumps in crude oil and gasoline inventories, AP reported. Oil has dropped 17 percent since the end of 2006 amid weeks of mild winter weather in the U.S. Northeast, a key consumer of heating fuels, and growing energy stockpiles. The price for a barrel of light, sweet crude for February delivery fell as low as $49.90 on the New York Mercantile Exchange but spent only a moment below the $50 threshold. It settled at $50.48, down $1.76 from Wednesday's settlement price. March Brent crude on London's ICE futures exchange fell $1.03 to settle at $51.75. U.S. crude oil stocks rose by 6.8 million barrels to 321.5 million, according to a report by the Energy Information Administration. Analysts had been expecting an increase of just 325,000 barrels, according to a Dow Jones Newswires survey. The EIA said inventories are above the upper end of the average range for this time of year. Gasoline inventories, meanwhile, rose by 3.5 million barrels to 216.8 million, above analysts' expectations of a 2.6 million barrel rise. Distillate fuel inventories, which include heating oil, rose by 900,000 barrels to 141.9 million barrels, compared with analysts' expectations of a 1.3 million barrel rise. The EIA said inventories for both gasoline and distillate fuels are at or above the upper end of the average range for this time of year. Heating oil lost 2.9 cents to $1.4707 a gallon while natural gas futures rose 9 cents to $6.324 per 1,000 cubic feet. Gasoline prices fell 2.3 cents to $1.3553 a gallon.
