Due to weak U. S. economic figures and dampened trader prospects for demand growth, U. S. crude oil futures fell on Thursday to settle below $77 a barrel.

Though, less than expected, natural gas prices were up on a government inventory report, showing a stockpile increase.

After falling below $76 earlier in the day, light, sweet crude for August delivery settled down 34 cents, or 0.5 percent, to $76.62 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It gained about 50 cents, or 0.6 percent, to top $77 in after-hours electronic trading after BP PLC said it halted the giant flow of oil from its Gulf of Mexico well.

To end the session at $76.19 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange, Brent crude for August settlement fell 58 cents, or 0.8 percent.

It has also been reported that the U. S. Energy Information Administration, the statistical and analytical agency within the U. S. Energy Department, reported on Thursday an increase of 78 billion cubic feet to stockpiles of natural gas, less than most analysts expected.

The increase was 88 billion cubic feet in the same week last year and an average 89 billion cubic feet over the past five years.

To settle at $2.0607 a gallon, August reformulated gasoline blend-stock fell 0.58 cents, or 0.3 percent.

According to the reports of AAA, the average U. S. retail price for regular unleaded gasoline was $2.718 a gallon, up a half-cent from Wednesday's $2.713 average. (With Inputs from Agencies)