Oil futures gave back early gains to end near five-year lows on Friday as a surge in U.S. supplies weighed on the market. Light, sweet crude for February delivery fell 2%, or $1.11, to $54.73 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The U.S. benchmark ended 63 cents away from settling at the lowest price since May 5, 2009. The February contract for Brent crude, the global benchmark, ended down 79 cents, or 1.3%, at $59.45 a barrel on the ICE Futures Europe exchange, also just shy of a new five-year low. “The market at the end of the day just gave in to the fact that inventories are so high,” said Phil Flynn , senior market analyst at Price Futures Group in Chicago. “The market I think was really blindsided by the buildup last week.” Oil producers added 7.3 million barrels in the week ended Dec. 19, […]