Natural gas stocks rise to highest level ever
Natural gas stockpiles rose last week as expected, the government said Thursday.
For the week ended Sept. 25 the Energy Department's Energy Information Administration said in its weekly report that natural gas inventories held in underground storage in the lower 48 states grew by 64 billion cubic feet to about 3.59 trillion cubic feet, the highest level ever on record.
Analysts expected a boost of between 60 billion and 64 billion cubic feet, according to a survey by Platts, the energy information arm of McGraw-Hill Cos.
The inventory level was 15.5 percent above the five-year average of about 3.1 trillion cubic feet, and 15.8 percent above last year's storage level of about 3.1 trillion cubic feet, according to the government data.
Natural gas prices fell by 5.6 percent to $4.57 per 1,000 cubic feet on the New York Mercantile Exchange in morning trading.
Copyright 2009 AP News
