NEW YORK, Jan 8 (Reuters) - U.S. crude oil futures ended
down for a second day in a row on Thursday on mounting economic
worries even as President-elect Barack Obama sought to gain
support for an economic stimulus plan that includes an energy
efficiency program.

Oil demand concerns remained as weaker-than-expected sales
at retail giant Wal-Mart offered more evidence of shrinking
consumer spending, and amid a gloomy jobs outlook, a day after
data showed domestic petroleum supplies soared last week.

"It can help but I get the sense that we are all being
conditioned to brace for a bad employment report tomorrow,"
said John Kilduff, senior vice president at MF Global.

"If job losses exceed 700,000, that will send a shudder
through the markets, keeping a lid on energy prices, if not
engender further losses," he said.

"The U.S. economy will need every bit of the stimulus,"
outlined by Obama, he added.

In early trade, prices rose on the Middle East conflict and
the Russia-Ukraine dispute over natural gas pricing.

Heating oil futures fell, affected by a
smaller-than-expected drawdown on natural gas storage.

Gasoline futures gained amid reports of a heavy gasoline
buying by Conoco in Chicago and a brief snag at Exxon's
Baytown, Texas refinery. For details see [ID:nN08450618]

PRICES

* On the New York Mercantile Exchange, February crude
CLG9 settled down 93 cents, or 2.18 percent, at $41.70 a
barrel, trading from $40.54 to $43.63. In two days, the
contract has fallen a combined $6.88, or 14.2 percent.

* February Brent LCOG9 crude ended down $1.19, or 2.59
percent, at $44.67 a barrel, trading from $43.75 to $47.36.

* NYMEX February heating oil HOG9 ended down 2.35 cents,
or 1.52 percent, at $1.5196 a gallon, trading from $1.4983 to
$1.6025.

* NYMEX February RBOB RBG9 finished up 1.18 cents, or 1.1
percent, at $1.0882 a gallon, trading from $1.0550 to $1.1139.

* The Feb/Feb RBOB crack spread <0#RB-CL=R> ended at $4,
jumping from Wednesday's close at $2.58. The Feb/Feb heating
oil crack spread <0#CL-HO=R> finished at $22.12, down from
Wednesday's close at $22.18.

* The spread between the current front month and the
five-year forward crude contract CLc61 widened to $31.35,
from $30.06 on Wednesday. The February 2014 contract settled at
$73.05, up 36 cents, or 0.5 percent.

TECHNICALS

NYMEX crude 10-day/20-day moving average: $42.66/$42.08

Technical support/resistance: NYMEX crude: $42.00/$45.50

NYMEX heating oil: $1.40/$1.70

NYMEX RBOB: $1.00/$1.30

For a report on technicals click [ID:nL8536787]

MARKET NEWS

* U.S. President-elect Barack Obama said he would offer
working families a $1,000 tax cut and improve energy efficiency
in millions of American homes in order to create jobs and
stimulate the economy. [ID:nWAT010746]

* U.S. equities rose to session highs, the S&P 500 .SPX
turned positive and the Dow .DJI cut its losses after news
of a mortgage deal for Citigroup (C.N: Quote, Profile, Research).

* Russia has agreed the deployment of monitors to oversee
gas supplies to the European Union via Ukraine, clearing the
way for the resumption of gas supplies, the Czech EU presidency
said in a statement on Thursday. [ID:nL8355388]

* Wal-Mart Stores Inc (WMT.N: Quote, Profile, Research) led U.S. retailers in posting
disappointing December same-store sales. [ID:nN08485027]

* The number of U.S. workers filing new claims for jobless
benefits last week unexpectedly fell to their lowest level
since mid-October, but the number remaining on jobless rolls
rose to a 26-year high. [ID:nL8596895]

* Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L: Quote, Profile, Research) said it had lifted force
majeure on oil shipments from Nigeria declared last year due to
attacks on its plants and OPEC quota cuts. [ID:nL8173021]

* OPEC seaborne oil exports, excluding Angola and Ecuador,
will drop 210,000 barrels per day by Jan. 24 to their lowest
level since August 2007, UK consultancy Oil Movements said.

* The Energy Information Administration said natural gas
storage fell last week by 47 billion cubic feet, far below the
79 bcf drawdown forecast in a Reuters poll. [ID:nN08534791].
(Reporting by Gene Ramos and Robert Gibbons;; Editing by
Marguerita Choy)