Natural Gas Storage Up - Price Up Too for July

WASHINGTON -

Natural gas in storage in the U.S. rose last week but is 0.1 percent below the five-year average for this time of year, a government report 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 rose by 105 billion cubic feet to nearly 1.81 trillion cubic feet for the week ending May 30.

The inventory level was slightly below the five-year average, and well below last year's storage level of more than 2.13 trillion cubic feet, according to the government data.

In morning trading, natural gas for July delivery rose more than 5 cents to over $12.43 per 1,000 cubic feet on the New York Mercantile Exchange