Natural-gas Prices Gain More Ground With U.S. Supplies Up Less Than Expected

Natural-gas futures gained more ground on Thursday after the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported that supplies of natural gas rose 52 billion cubic feet for the week ended Oct. 30. That was less than the climb of between 55 billion cubic feet and 59 billion cubic feet forecast by analysts polled by Platts. Total stocks now stand at 3.929 trillion cubic feet, up 371 billion cubic feet from a year ago and 147 billion cubic feet above the five-year average, the government said. December natural gas was at $2.344 per million British thermal units, up 8.2 cents, or 3.6%. It traded at $2.314 before the supply data.