Natural gas reserve fall for fourth week, stockpiles remain well above last year’s levels
By APThursday, December 31, 2009
Natural gas stocks fall less than expected
NEW YORK — Natural gas stockpile levels fell less than expected last week, the government said Thursday.
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 dropped by 124 billion cubic feet to about 3.28 trillion cubic feet for the week ended Dec. 25.
Analysts had expected a draw of between 143 billion and 147 billion cubic feet, according to a survey by Platts, the energy information arm of McGraw-Hill Cos.
The inventory level was 13.6 percent above the five-year average of about 2.89 trillion cubic feet, and 13.1 percent above last year’s storage level of about 2.90 trillion cubic feet, according to the government data.
Natural gas gave up 14.4 cents to $5.565 per 1,000 cubic feet on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
