By Christine Buurma Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--Natural gas futures slipped Thursday, weighed down by weak economic data and tumbling crude oil prices ahead of government data expected to show a smaller-than-normal build in U.S. gas inventories for last week. Natural gas for June delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange was trading 6.1 cents lower, or 1.47%, at $4.097 a million British thermal units after opening 2.5 cents lower at $4.133/MMBtu. Crude oil prices slid on a lack of confidence in Europe's economic prospects and a Labor Department report showing an unexpected jump in U.S. jobless claims last week. Natural gas sometimes trades in sympathy with crude oil and related products, some of which can be used as substitutes for gas in power plants and heating systems. "With all the doom and gloom radiating from Europe, the Bears have the bulk of the news in their back pocket," Drew Wozniak, an analyst with ICAP Energy in Louisville, Ky., wrote in a note to clients Thursday. Gas prices also continued to be pressured lower by ample supplies and a mild weather outlook. Below-normal temperatures are expected from the northern Plains and the Great Lakes region south to northern Texas in June through August, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said Thursday. But gas futures could ultimately see some upward momentum from the decline in crude oil prices, said Stephen Schork, the president of The Schork group, a Villanova, Pa., energy advisory firm. Some energy traders have been betting on rising crude oil prices while simultaneously betting on falling natural gas prices, Schork said. As traders unwind those positions, gas futures could climb. The crude oil market "is an absolute mess," Schork said. "Natural gas might be benefiting from the weakness. If people still want exposure to energy, they might buy gas because it's cheap." Gas futures could also rise on government data expected to show a smaller-than-average build in U.S. gas inventories for last week amid brisk temperatures in the major gas-consuming regions. The U.S. Energy Information Administration is expected to report Thursday that 78 billion cubic feet of gas was added to storage during the week ended May 14, according to the average prediction of 23 analysts and traders in a Dow Jones Newswires survey. The EIA is scheduled to release its storage data at 10:30 a.m. EDT (1430 GMT). The storage estimate falls short of last year's 100 bcf build in storage and the five-year average build of 93 bcf for the same week. If the estimate is correct, inventories as of May 14 will total 2.167 trillion cubic feet, about 17% above the five-year average and 3.6% above last year's level for the same week. -By Christine Buurma, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2143; christine.buurma@dowjones.com

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