Natural-gas Prices Climb Further After a Smaller-than-expected Rise In U.S. Supplies

Natural-gas futures added to earlier gains on Thursday after the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported that supplies of natural gas rose 68 billion cubic feet for the week ended Sept. 4. Analysts polled by Platts forecast a climb of between 72 billion cubic feet and 76 billion cubic feet. Total stocks now stand at 3.261 trillion cubic feet, up 473 billion cubic feet from a year ago and 127 billion cubic feet above the five-year average, the government said. October natural gas was at $2.705 per million British thermal units, up 5.5 cents, or 2.1%. Prices traded at $2.686 before the supply data.