Natural-gas futures extend gains as U.S. supplies decline

The U.S. Energy Information Administration reported on Thursday that domestic natural-gas supplies fell by 151 billion cubic feet for the week ended Jan. 27. That compared with an average analyst forecast for a decline of 146 billion cubic feet, according to a survey conducted by S&P Global Commodity Insights. The latest data, however, included a revision to stocks for the week ended Jan. 20, the EIA said. It upwardly revised that week’s total to 2.734 trillion cubic feet from 2.729 trillion. Total working gas stocks in storage for the latest week was at 2.583 trillion cubic feet, up 222 billion cubic feet from a year ago and 163 billion cubic feet above the five-year average, the government said. Following the data, March natural gas
NGH23,
+2.84%
was up 6.9 cents, or 2.8%, at $2.537 per million British thermal units on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices traded at $2.535 before the supply data.