The U.S. Energy Information Administration reported Thursday that domestic supplies of natural gas rose by 59 billion cubic feet for the week ended Aug. 16. The average forecast of analysts polled by S&P Global Platts had called for an increase of 61 billion cubic feet. Total stocks now stand at 2.797 trillion cubic feet, up 369 billion cubic feet from a year ago, but 103 billion below the five-year average, the government said. September natural gas NGU19, -0.32% traded at $2.181 per million British thermal units, up 1.1 cents, or 0.5%, from Wednesday's settlement. It was trading at $2.168 before the data. (full story)