Natural Gas Gains More Ground After EIA Reports a Supply Decline

Natural-gas futures on Thursday gained more ground after the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported that supplies of natural gas fell by 18 billion cubic feet for the week ended March 27. Analysts surveyed by Platts forecast a decline of between 8 billion cubic feet and 12 billion cubic feet. Total stocks now stand at 1,461 trillion cubic feet, up 628 billion cubic feet from a year ago and 190 billion cubic feet below the five-year average, the government said. May natural gas was at $2.675 per million British thermal units, up 7 cents, or 2.7%. It was trading around $2.63 before the data.