Natural Gas Turns Lower After EIA Reports a Supply Rise

Natural-gas futures on Thursday turned lower after the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported that supplies of natural gas climbed by 12 billion cubic feet for the week ended March 20. Analysts surveyed by Platts forecast an increase of between 12 billion cubic feet and 16 billion cubic feet. Total stocks now stand at 1,479 trillion cubic feet, up 575 billion cubic feet from a year ago and 194 billion cubic feet below the five-year average, the government said. April natural gas was at $2.673 per million British thermal units, down 5 cents, or 1.8%. It was trading around $2.73 before the data.