TOKYO (MarketWatch) -- Crude-oil futures climbed Thursday in electronic trading on Globex to touch a high just short of $72 a barrel, as traders continued to cheer data that showed a surprising drop in last week's U.S. petroleum inventories.
"Oil inventories unexpectedly declined while U.S. oil consumption came off its multi-year low," analysts at Credit Suisse wrote in a note to clients dated Thursday.
Crude for July delivery was up 50 cents at $71.83 a barrel on Globex by the afternoon in Tokyo. It climbed as high as $71.99.
Wednesday on the New York Mercantile Exchange, July crude rose $1.32, or 1.9%, to end at $71.33 a barrel -- closing at the highest level for a front-month contract since Oct. 20.
Crude inventories fell by 4.4 million barrels in the week ended June 5, the Energy Information Administration reported Wednesday. Analysts surveyed by energy information provider Platts had expected an increase of 800,000 barrels.
Also on Globex, July natural gas added 1.7 cents to $3.725 per million British thermal units, after closing Wednesday with a 0.6% loss in New York.
The EIA will provide an update on natural-gas supplies in storage Thursday morning in Washington D.C. It's expected to report an increase of between 106 billion and 111 billion cubic feet for the week ended June 5, according to a Platts survey of analysts.
Myra P. Saefong is MarketWatch's assistant global markets editor, based in Tokyo.
