The U.S. Energy Information Administration reported on Thursday that domestic supplies of natural gas rose by 49 billion cubic feet for the week ended July 16. IHS Markit had forecast an increase of 51 billion cubic feet. Total stocks now stand at 2.678 trillion cubic feet, down 532 billion cubic feet from a year ago and 176 billion cubic feet below the five-year average, the government said. Following the data, August natural gas NGQ21, -1.21% continued to trade lower, losing 3.5 cents, or 0.9%, at $3.92 per million British thermal units. Prices were at $3.93 shortly before the data. (full story)

Natural gas futures are plunging toward the end of the trading week after the US government reported a slightly bigger-than-expected build in domestic inventories. The energy commodity has been surging this week, but the disappointing storage figures gave the so-called bridge fuel a moment to breathe. August natural gas futures plummeted $0.058, or 1.47%, to $3.902 per million British thermal units (btu) at 14:40 GMT on Thursday on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Despite the steep drop, natural gas prices are poised for a weekly gain of about 9%, adding to their year-to-date rally of 55%. According to the US Energy ... (full story)