Natural Gas Little Changed As U.S. Supplies Fall As Expected

Natural-gas futures on Thursday gave up minor gains to trade little changed after the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported that supplies of natural gas declined by 228 billion cubic feet for the week ended Feb. 27. Analysts surveyed by Platts forecast a decline of between 222 billion cubic feet and 226 billion cubic feet. Total stocks now stand at 1,710 trillion cubic feet, up 492 billion cubic feet from a year ago and 143 billion cubic feet below the five-year average, the government said. April natural gas was at $2.773 per million British thermal units, up less than a penny. It was trading around $2.80 before the data.