NEW YORK (AP) — The nation's natural gas supplies rose last week, the government said today.
The Energy Department's Energy Information Administration reported that natural gas in storage grew by 20 billion cubic feet to 3.834 trillion cubic feet for the week ended Nov. 8.
Analysts expected a rise of 20 billion to 24 billion cubic feet, according to a survey by Platts, the energy information arm of McGraw-Hill Cos.
The inventory level was 1.5 percent above the five-year average of 3.766 trillion cubic feet, but 2 percent below last year's level of 3.914 trillion cubic feet, according to the government data.
Natural gas futures rose immediately after the report was released at 10:30 a.m. EST, but were still down 4 cents to $3.58 per 1,000 cubic feet in New York.