Natural-gas Prices Pare Gains As U.S. Supplies Rise 94 Billion Cubic Feet

Natural-gas futures pared some of their gains Thursday after the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported that supplies of natural gas rose 94 billion cubic feet for the week ended Aug. 28. Analysts polled by Platts forecast a climb of between 83 billion cubic feet and 87 billion cubic feet. The EIA, however, said the latest data included "reclassifications" from base gas to working gas that resulted in increased working gas stocks of about 8 billion cubic feet in the East region. Total stocks now stand at 3.193 trillion cubic feet, up 495 billion cubic feet from a year ago and 122 billion cubic feet above the five-year average, the government said. October natural gas was at $2.662 per million British thermal units, up 1.4 cents, or 0.5%. Prices traded around $2.674 before the supply data.