Natural gas futures dropped to its lowest level on Thursday in more than 14 months during trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, after release of a government report which showed a lesser-than-forecast supply decline.

While analysts anticipated a drop of 67 billion cubic feet, the report revealed that stockpiles had only dropped 64 billion cubic feet.

Natural gas for January delivery briefly touched $5.961 — the lowest level since trading at $5.916 in Sept. 07– but later regained some of its losses. As of 1:55 p.m. in New York, it was once again trading above the 6 dollar level at $6.013, down 33 cents on the day.

The decline caused by the slumping U.S. economy in such industries as steel, have cut back on the demand for natural gas. Industrial and commercial users account for about 42 percent of natural gas consumption in the U.S.