Natural-gas futures jump by more than 46%; oil settles lower

Natural-gas prices rallied Thursday, with traders shocked by a more than 46% jump in prices at the settlement, as the front-month February futures contract expired at the end of the trading session. Natural gas for February delivery
NGG22,
+37.95%
settled at $6.265 per million British thermal units, up $1.99, or 46.5% on the New York Mercantile Exchange, according to Dow Jones Market Data – the largest one-day percentage move on record and highest finish since October. The 219 billion-cubic-foot weekly fall in U.S. supplies of the fuel reported by the Energy Information Administration Thursday leaves stockpiles more than 10% below last year’s levels, Tyler Richey, co-editor at Sevens Report Research, said ahead of the Nymex settlement. Meanwhile, oil futures posted their first loss in three sessions on Thursday, easing back from the multiyear highs seen a day earlier. Traders remained focused on the Russia-Ukraine situation and the possibility of a disruption to global crude supplies. March West Texas Intermediate crude
CLH22,
+0.46%
fell 74 cents, or nearly 0.9%, to settle at $86.61 a barrel, after settling Wednesday at $87.35, the highest front-month contract finish since October 2014.