Natural Gas Slips As U.S. Supplies Climb 61 Billion Cubic Feet

Natural-gas futures turned slightly lower on Thursday after the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported that supplies of natural gas rose by 61 billion cubic feet for the week ended July 17. Analysts polled by Platts forecast a climb of 67 billion cubic feet to 71 billion cubic feet. The EIA said the report included "reclassifications" of some of the data. Total stocks now stand at 2.828 trillion cubic feet, up 622 billion cubic feet from a year ago and 81 billion cubic feet above the five-year average, the government said. August natural gas was at $2.887 per million British thermal units, down a penny. It was trading at $2.917 before the data.