EIA Reports 34 Billion-cubic-foot Rise In U.S. Natural-gas Supplies

Natural-gas futures added to earlier gains on Thursday after the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported that supplies of the commodity rose 34 billion cubic feet for the week ended July 15. That was below the average rise of 40 billion cubic feet expected by analysts polled by S&P Global Platts. Total stocks now stand at 3.277 trillion cubic feet, up 471 billion cubic feet from a year ago and 559 billion cubic feet above the five-year average, the government said. August natural gas rose 4.7 cents, or 1.8%, at $2.705 per million British thermal units from Wednesday's settlement. It traded at $2.664 before the data.