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Summary Oil prices fell below $96 a barrel on mixed signs about the strength of crude demand in the US.
Oil prices fell below $96 a barrel Thursday on mixed signs about the strength of crude demand in the U.S. amid growing inventories.Benchmark crude fell by $2.03 to $95.58 per barrel in New York afternoon trading, reflecting weak demand for petroleum products in the U.S.Brent crude fell by 28 cents to $111.28 per barrel in London.A jump of U.S. crude inventories last week by 4 million barrels suggested oil consumption is sluggish. Analysts expected a rise of 3 million barrels. However, factories raised output in January by the most in seven months and construction spending rose 1.5 percent in December, the fifth straight monthly gain.Oil prices have hovered near $100 for the last few months amid mixed economic signs from the U.S., Europe and Asia.Some analysts expect crude to begin to rise as the global economy may grow more this year than previously expected.In other energy trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, natural gas futures rose 8 cents to $2.46 per 1,000 cubic feet. Natural gas hit a 10-year low last month at $2.32 per 1,000 cubic feet, and the price is still less than half of it what it was in 2010.Heating oil was up about a penny at $3.04 per gallon and gasoline futures fell by 3 cents to $2.86 per gallon.
