U.S. Natural Gas in Storage Grows

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 increased by 43 billion cubic feet to about 2.97 trillion cubic feet for the week ending Aug. 24.

The inventory level was well above the five-year average of more than 2.65 trillion cubic feet in underground storage, and also above last year's storage level of 2.90 trillion cubic feet, according to the government data.

In morning trading, natural gas for October delivery rose 1.9 cent to $5.60 per 1,000 cubic feet on the New York Mercantile Exchange.