Oil Futures Continue Ascent

Natural gas inched down 2 cents to $8.84 per million British thermal units on weather forecasts that cold temperatures won't last past next Tuesday. During the day, natural gas hit a high of $9.05 per million British thermal units after inventories dropped more than expected in the Energy Department's weekly supply update.

Last week, stockpiles plunged by 32 billion cubic feet vs. analysts' expectations of a 22 billion cubic-feet drop. At 3.41 trillion cubic feet, supplies are now 5.7% higher than last year and 7% above the five-year average.

On Wednesday, natural gas closed at a nine-month high of $8.87 per million British thermal units on cold-weather projections for much of the country. A cold front moving across the U.S. is expected to lower temperatures and boost heating demand this week. By Saturday, the warm weather in the Northeast, the biggest heating fuel market in the country, should be gone.

Among equities, the stocks of natural gas and oil exploration companies were up modestly. Natural gas companies XTO Energy(XTO Quote), Devon Energy(DVN Quote), El Paso(EP Quote) and Southwestern Energy(SWN Quote) posted gains.

Chevron(CVX Quote), ConocoPhillips(COP Quote) and Exxon Mobil(XOM Quote) advanced more than 1%.