Natural Gas Extends Decline With U.S. Supplies Up More Than Expected

Natural-gas futures on Thursday extended earlier declines after the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported that supplies of natural gas rose by 112 billion cubic feet for the week ended May 22. That was more than the increase of between 97 billion cubic feet and 101 billion cubic feet expected by analysts polled by Platts. Total stocks now stand at 2,101 trillion cubic feet, up 737 billion cubic feet from a year ago and 18 billion cubic feet below the five-year average, the government said. July natural gas was at $2.734 per million British thermal units, down 11.3 cents, or 4%. It was trading around $2.79 before the data.