Natural-gas Prices Pare Some Losses As U.S. Supplies Decline More Than Expected

Natural-gas futures pared some of its earlier losses on Thursday after the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported that supplies of the commodity declined by 211 billion cubic feet for the week ended Jan. 22. That was more than the decline of between 204 billion cubic feet and 208 billion cubic feet expected by analysts polled by Platts. Total stocks now stand at 3.086 trillion cubic feet, up 530 billion cubic feet from a year ago and 432 billion cubic feet above the five-year average, the government said. March natural gas was at $2.134 per million British thermal units, down 2.3 cents, or 1.1%. Prices traded $2.113 before the supply data.