Natural-gas futures extend their decline as U.S. supplies hold above the 5-year average

The U.S. Energy Information Administration reported on Thursday that domestic natural-gas supplies fell by 91 billion cubic feet for the week ended Jan. 20. That compared with the average analyst forecast for a decline of 84 billion cubic feet, according to a survey conducted by S&P Global Commodity Insights. However, total working gas stocks in storage stand at 2.729 trillion cubic feet, up 107 billion cubic feet from a year ago and 128 billion cubic feet above the five-year average, the government said. Following the data, February natural gas
NGG23,
-7.99%
was down 22.5 cents, or 7.3%, at $2.842 per million British thermal units on the New York Mercantile Exchange.