Natural-gas Prices Gain As U.S. Supplies Climb Less Than Expected

Natural-gas futures gained on Thursday after the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported that supplies of natural gas rose by 53 billion cubic feet for the week ended August 14. Analysts polled by Platts forecast a climb of between 58 billion cubic feet and 62 billion cubic feet. Total stocks now stand at 3.03 trillion cubic feet, up 488 billion cubic feet from a year ago and 80 billion cubic feet above the five-year average, the government said. September natural gas was at $2.754 per million British thermal units, up 3.8 cents, or 1.4%. It was trading at $2.728 before the data.