Energy Commodity Futures Slipping

News of abundant U.S. petroleum inventories moved traders Thursday on the New York Mercantile Exchange to sell energy commodity futures.

High-quality crude oil for March delivery fell 41 cents to $66.15 per barrel, and natural gas was down 3 cents to $8.69 per million Btu.

Gasoline gave up a penny to $1.718 per gallon, and heating oil slipped as much to $1.8135 per gallon.

The Energy Department said Wednesday U.S. oil and product supplies were in the upper range of their average levels for this time of year.