By Reg Curren
May 6 (Bloomberg) -- Natural gas futures rose more than 7 percent, the biggest gain since March, after an employment report spurred speculation that the worst of the recession may be over.
Gas rose after an ADP Employer Services report today showed companies in the U.S. cut 491,000 workers from payrolls in April, less than the median estimate of 645,000 in a Bloomberg News survey of 28 economists. A rebound in the economy would help lift gas consumption by factories and power producers, which together account for 58 percent of U.S. demand.
“You can’t dismiss the economic optimism that has grown with the ADP number,” said Phil Flynn, senior trader at Alaron Trading Corp. in Chicago. “We’re starting to look forward and this isn’t just a U.S. phenomenon because we’re starting to see numbers from around the globe that are better than expected. We’ve looked into the abyss and we’re pulling back from it.”
Natural gas for June delivery rose 27.2 cents, or 7.5 percent, to settle at $3.887 per million British thermal units at 3:03 p.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the biggest one-day gain since futures rose 13 percent on March 19.
Gas has fallen 31 percent this year as companies including Chrysler LLC and General Motors Corp. idled plants because of sliding demand. Gas use by factories in the U.S. may drop 7.4 percent this year as the recession cuts consumption, the Energy Department said in a report on April 14.
Chrysler filed for bankruptcy protection on April 30 and General Motors may have to follow suit.
Economic Reports
The ADP figures followed other economic reports in the past two weeks that have shown an easing of the slump. On April 24, orders for U.S. durable goods fell less than forecast and sales of new houses were higher than projected, the Commerce Department said.
“There’s some positive information out there that people are looking to build on,” said Brad Florer, a trader at Kottke Associates Inc. in Louisville, Kentucky. “Bulls are looking at two things right now: some economic news that they can grab hold of and maybe verify that a bottom has been put in, and that under $4, physical buyers look at this as a good place to get in.”
A move for gas prices toward $4 per million Btu may trigger additional buying as futures break through the top of a down channel that has been in place since prices started falling in July, Florer said.
“Until then, you’ve got to be looking at this as an opportunity to sell” into the rally, he said. “This market still has a long way to go, there’s tons of gas and there’s no real weather threat and the economy is still a big giant question mark.”
Stockpile Forecast
The Energy Department will probably say that gas in storage increased 92 billion cubic feet in the week ended May 1, according to the median of 17 analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Estimated gains ranged from a low of 88 billion to a high of 101 billion cubic feet. Supplies in the previous week’s report were 23 percent higher than the five-year average.
The typical change for the week over the past five years is an increase of 68 billion cubic feet. The department is set to release its weekly supply report tomorrow at 10:30 a.m.
A decline in U.S. drilling will begin to show up in supplies later this year, said Chris Jarvis, president of Caprock Risk Management LLC in Hampton Falls, New Hampshire.
“People are playing the recovery, and the area that will do well is commodities,” he said. “There’s a huge supply of natural gas, though it’s not going to take much for these production cuts, which were driven by lower prices, to show once the economy starts to turn.”
Rig Count
The number of gas rigs operating in the U.S. has dropped 54 percent since September as prices collapsed, data published by Baker Hughes Inc. show. As rigs idle, natural gas production in the U.S. is forecast to be 5.4 percent lower in the fourth quarter of this year compared with the same period in 2008, according to a report from the Energy Department on April 14.
Devon Energy Corp., the largest independent oil and natural-gas producer in the U.S., said today the company expects output in the Barnett Shale gas formation in North Texas to crest in the current quarter after reductions in drilling.
The company has eight rigs drilling in the region, down from a peak of 39 in the fourth quarter, David Hager, executive vice president for exploration and production at Oklahoma City- based Devon, told investors today on a conference call.
The Barnett Shale helped lift U.S. production 7.2 percent to 21.5 trillion cubic feet in 2008, according to the Energy Department.
To contact the reporter on this story: Reg Curren in Calgary at rcurren@bloomberg.net.
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Natural Gas Find in Spain
By Carlos Manuel Rodriguez
May 5 (Bloomberg) -- Ecopetrol SA said it signed an agreement to build a natural-gas plant at the Gibraltar Field after drilling results determined the area has the potential for production.
Union Temporal Gas Gibraltar will design, build and operate the facility in the northeastern part of the South American country, Ecopetrol said today in a statement.
The treatment plant will have a capacity to process 30 million cubic feet per day and should start operating “by the end of this year,” said Ecopetrol, Colombia’s state- controlled oil company.
A well named Gibraltar 3 had natural-gas production between 28 million cubic feet a day and 30 million, the company said. Combined with earlier tests on two additional wells, it guarantees gas volumes of 30 million cubic feet a day projected previously by Ecopetrol.
TransOriente E.S.P. will build a gas pipeline to send the fuel from the Gibraltar Field to the national-gas transport system at Bucaramanga. Gas Natural E.S.P. will sell the fuel.
Ecopetrol didn’t say how much the contracts for construction of the gas plant and pipeline system were worth.
To contact the reporter on this story: Carlos M. Rodriguez in Mexico City at carlosmr@bloomberg.net.
May 5 (Bloomberg) -- Ecopetrol SA said it signed an agreement to build a natural-gas plant at the Gibraltar Field after drilling results determined the area has the potential for production.
Union Temporal Gas Gibraltar will design, build and operate the facility in the northeastern part of the South American country, Ecopetrol said today in a statement.
The treatment plant will have a capacity to process 30 million cubic feet per day and should start operating “by the end of this year,” said Ecopetrol, Colombia’s state- controlled oil company.
A well named Gibraltar 3 had natural-gas production between 28 million cubic feet a day and 30 million, the company said. Combined with earlier tests on two additional wells, it guarantees gas volumes of 30 million cubic feet a day projected previously by Ecopetrol.
TransOriente E.S.P. will build a gas pipeline to send the fuel from the Gibraltar Field to the national-gas transport system at Bucaramanga. Gas Natural E.S.P. will sell the fuel.
Ecopetrol didn’t say how much the contracts for construction of the gas plant and pipeline system were worth.
To contact the reporter on this story: Carlos M. Rodriguez in Mexico City at carlosmr@bloomberg.net.
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Natural Gas Payday for CEO
HOUSTON, May 4 (Reuters) - Chesapeake Energy Corp (CHK.N) defended its decision to award a $75 million one-time bonus to its CEO and sought to explain other deals the gas company has struck with the executive, including the purchase of a collection of his maps for $12.1 million, a regulatory filing on Monday showed.
The bonus was first disclosed in January when Chesapeake's board renewed Chief Executive Aubrey McClendon's employment contract, but recent newspaper reports and the company's annual proxy statement have intensified scrutiny.
Chesapeake's directors said they gave the bonus to McClendon to recognize his "extraordinary contribution" to production deals struck during 2008 that added $10 billion in "intrinsic value" to the company, the filings said.
Chesapeake, led by McClendon, struck a number of billion-dollar production and acreage deals in 2008 with companies including Norway's StatoilHydro (STL.OL), raising valuable cash for the heavily-leveraged company.
But while the deals created value, Chesapeake stock investors did not have a great year.
The company's shares fell nearly 60 percent in 2008, underperforming a 35 percent drop in the American Stock Exchange index of natural gas companies .XNG.
In the latest SEC filing, the company also defends the $12.1 million purchase of a map collection that McClendon owned and the company's sponsorship of a National Basketball Association team, the Oklahoma City Thunder, in which the executive has an interest.
In December 2008, Chesapeake bought an extensive collection of antique historical maps of the American Southwest from McClendon for $12.1 million at cost, the filing said.
"These maps complement the interior design features of our campus buildings and contribute to our workplace culture," the filing said.
Chesapeake is due to report first-quarter earnings after the close of trading on Monday. (Reporting by Anna Driver, editing by Gerald E. McCormick)
© Thomson Reuters 2009 All rights reserved
The bonus was first disclosed in January when Chesapeake's board renewed Chief Executive Aubrey McClendon's employment contract, but recent newspaper reports and the company's annual proxy statement have intensified scrutiny.
Chesapeake's directors said they gave the bonus to McClendon to recognize his "extraordinary contribution" to production deals struck during 2008 that added $10 billion in "intrinsic value" to the company, the filings said.
Chesapeake, led by McClendon, struck a number of billion-dollar production and acreage deals in 2008 with companies including Norway's StatoilHydro (STL.OL), raising valuable cash for the heavily-leveraged company.
But while the deals created value, Chesapeake stock investors did not have a great year.
The company's shares fell nearly 60 percent in 2008, underperforming a 35 percent drop in the American Stock Exchange index of natural gas companies .XNG.
In the latest SEC filing, the company also defends the $12.1 million purchase of a map collection that McClendon owned and the company's sponsorship of a National Basketball Association team, the Oklahoma City Thunder, in which the executive has an interest.
In December 2008, Chesapeake bought an extensive collection of antique historical maps of the American Southwest from McClendon for $12.1 million at cost, the filing said.
"These maps complement the interior design features of our campus buildings and contribute to our workplace culture," the filing said.
Chesapeake is due to report first-quarter earnings after the close of trading on Monday. (Reporting by Anna Driver, editing by Gerald E. McCormick)
© Thomson Reuters 2009 All rights reserved
Monday, May 4, 2009
Pelham Gets a Natural Gas Compressor
By Terry Date
tdate@eagletribune.com
PELHAM — Neighbors of a natural gas compressor station being built off Mammoth Road will pay close attention to noise from the plant once it is up and running.
Tennessee Gas Pipeline Co. started clearing land on its 7-acre site in the Pelham Industrial Park Wednesday and plans to have the facility running by Nov. 1, Richard Wheatley said.
Wheatley is a spokesman for El Paso Corp. of Houston, the parent company of Tennessee Gas.
The Pelham compressor itself will cover 3 acres near the Windham town line, Wheatley said. It will boost natural gas capacity for customers between Dracut, Mass., and Laconia, Wheatley said.
Pelham has no natural gas outlets nor does it have any plans to draw service from the plant, town Planning Director Jeff Gowan said.
There are about 181 residences within a half-mile radius of the compressor, according to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. Eighty of those units are across Beaver Brook at the nearby Whispering Winds neighborhood in Windham.
A former president of the neighborhood association, Phyllis Irvin, said Wednesday that residents in the 55-and-older community are primarily concerned about excessive noise coming from the plant.
"It's an older community, people sleep late," she said.
Irvin said she also is worried about the plant detracting from property values and the scenery along Beaver Brook.
On the Pelham side, resident Kevin Hebert said he, too, is concerned about excessive noise from the plant.
Hebert said he will wait and see what kind of a neighbor Tennessee Gas is. He and others expressed concerns about plant noise at public hearings and in letters last year.
"To be honest, we've accepted it," he said. "And if the noise is too loud, we will sell — no doubt at a loss."
The company, because it is a utility, is exempt from local oversight, but needed federal approval. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission issued the certificate Aug. 28, 2008, authorizing construction.
Certificate conditions prohibit noise levels above 55 decibels in noise sensitive areas, FERC spokeswoman Tamara Young-Allen said. The noise sensitive areas range from 660 feet to 4,189 feet, depending on the direction.
The federal agency will monitor the noise level randomly once the plant is operational. In addition, the agency has an enforcement hot line, 1-888-889-8030, for people to lodge complaints, she said.
Wheatley said the station noise level should be well below the federal level. He said he thinks the facility's 6,130-horsepower compressor station will not exceed 46 to 48 decibels.
"We at all times want to be a good neighbor," Wheatley said.
Pelham fire Chief James Midgley has reviewed the site and met with company representatives. He said he has confidence it will be a safe facility.
"I have no fears or issues with that plant being there," Midgley said.
tdate@eagletribune.com
PELHAM — Neighbors of a natural gas compressor station being built off Mammoth Road will pay close attention to noise from the plant once it is up and running.
Tennessee Gas Pipeline Co. started clearing land on its 7-acre site in the Pelham Industrial Park Wednesday and plans to have the facility running by Nov. 1, Richard Wheatley said.
Wheatley is a spokesman for El Paso Corp. of Houston, the parent company of Tennessee Gas.
The Pelham compressor itself will cover 3 acres near the Windham town line, Wheatley said. It will boost natural gas capacity for customers between Dracut, Mass., and Laconia, Wheatley said.
Pelham has no natural gas outlets nor does it have any plans to draw service from the plant, town Planning Director Jeff Gowan said.
There are about 181 residences within a half-mile radius of the compressor, according to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. Eighty of those units are across Beaver Brook at the nearby Whispering Winds neighborhood in Windham.
A former president of the neighborhood association, Phyllis Irvin, said Wednesday that residents in the 55-and-older community are primarily concerned about excessive noise coming from the plant.
"It's an older community, people sleep late," she said.
Irvin said she also is worried about the plant detracting from property values and the scenery along Beaver Brook.
On the Pelham side, resident Kevin Hebert said he, too, is concerned about excessive noise from the plant.
Hebert said he will wait and see what kind of a neighbor Tennessee Gas is. He and others expressed concerns about plant noise at public hearings and in letters last year.
"To be honest, we've accepted it," he said. "And if the noise is too loud, we will sell — no doubt at a loss."
The company, because it is a utility, is exempt from local oversight, but needed federal approval. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission issued the certificate Aug. 28, 2008, authorizing construction.
Certificate conditions prohibit noise levels above 55 decibels in noise sensitive areas, FERC spokeswoman Tamara Young-Allen said. The noise sensitive areas range from 660 feet to 4,189 feet, depending on the direction.
The federal agency will monitor the noise level randomly once the plant is operational. In addition, the agency has an enforcement hot line, 1-888-889-8030, for people to lodge complaints, she said.
Wheatley said the station noise level should be well below the federal level. He said he thinks the facility's 6,130-horsepower compressor station will not exceed 46 to 48 decibels.
"We at all times want to be a good neighbor," Wheatley said.
Pelham fire Chief James Midgley has reviewed the site and met with company representatives. He said he has confidence it will be a safe facility.
"I have no fears or issues with that plant being there," Midgley said.
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Natural Gas Rigs Down - Price is Up
By Reg Curren
May 1 (Bloomberg) -- Natural gas futures rose the most in six weeks on speculation a decline in drilling for the industrial and power-generating fuel will cut supplies later this year.
The number of gas rigs operating in the U.S. has dropped 54 percent since September as prices collapsed, data published by Baker Hughes Inc. showed. As rigs idle, natural gas production in the U.S. is forecast to be 5.4 percent lower in the fourth quarter of this year compared with the same period in 2008, according to a report from the Energy Department on April 14.
There is “some anticipatory buying that the bearish fundamentals we’ve been seeing are about to shift,” said Tim Evans, an energy analyst with Citi Futures Perspective in New York. “It’s the idea that supply is about to drop. We’ve had some shut-ins announced and had this dramatic decline in drilling activity.”
Natural gas for June delivery rose 17.3 cents, or 5.1 percent, to settle at $3.546 per million British thermal units at 3:05 p.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the biggest one-day gain since March 19. Gas touched $3.155 per million Btu on April 27, the lowest price since September 2002.
Baker Hughes said natural gas rigs fell by one to 741, the lowest since Feb. 7, 2003. It was the smallest decline since November, the last time the gas rig count increased. The count was 54 percent below a peak of 1,606 on Sept. 12.
Gas supplies have yet to show a meaningful response to a decline in drilling as companies close off less productive areas first, Evans said.
Decline in Drilling
“This isn’t a subtle decline in activity,” he said. “The timing of the inflection point is unknown, though there is nothing we can do today to prevent a decline in U.S. gas production. It’s unavoidable.”
The drop in supplies will probably coincide with a recovery in the economy, pushing prices higher, Evans said.
“The further forward you look, over the next 18 to 24 months, the more likely you are to have a material decline in production and a recovery in demand and price,” he said. “This market will bottom. I don’t see a lot of risk-reward being short here.”
Confidence among U.S. consumers rose more than forecast in April to its highest level since before the collapse of credit late last year unleashed a financial panic that sent the economy into freefall.
The Reuters/University of Michigan final index of consumer sentiment rose to 65.1 from 57.3 in March, the biggest gain in more than two years. The index reached a three-decade low of 55.3 in November.
“We seem to be more optimistic about the economy,” said Evans.
Factory Report
Separately, an industry survey showed manufacturing in the U.S. shrank in April at the slowest pace in seven months. The Institute for Supply Management’s factory index rose to 40.1 last month, higher than forecast, from 36.3 in March. Readings less than 50 signal a contraction.
Rising crude oil prices also helped to support natural gas prices, said Chris Jarvis, president of Caprock Risk Management LLC in Hampton Falls, New Hampshire.
“Natural gas will have a tough time getting lower,” said Jarvis. “As long as crude oil moves higher toward that $55 level it will drag gas along.”
Crude Gains
Crude oil for June delivery rose 3.9 percent to $53.11 a barrel on the New York exchange as the consumer confidence and manufacturing reports sparked buying.
Gas futures have dropped 37 percent this year on signs tumbling demand from factories and power plants will send inventory levels to a record high. Gains today accelerated as traders who had made bad bets on falling prices bought contracts to cancel those positions.
U.S. natural gas inventories increased by 82 billion cubic feet in the week ended April 24 to 1.823 trillion cubic feet, the Energy Department said yesterday. Supplies were 23 percent higher than the five-year average.
“Markets don’t just discount bad news immediately. They don’t go down in straight-line fashion, they sell off 10 cents and recover and then head back down,” said Jim Ritterbusch, president of Ritterbusch & Associates in Galena, Illinois.
To contact the reporter on this story: Reg Curren in Calgary at rcurren@bloomberg.net.
May 1 (Bloomberg) -- Natural gas futures rose the most in six weeks on speculation a decline in drilling for the industrial and power-generating fuel will cut supplies later this year.
The number of gas rigs operating in the U.S. has dropped 54 percent since September as prices collapsed, data published by Baker Hughes Inc. showed. As rigs idle, natural gas production in the U.S. is forecast to be 5.4 percent lower in the fourth quarter of this year compared with the same period in 2008, according to a report from the Energy Department on April 14.
There is “some anticipatory buying that the bearish fundamentals we’ve been seeing are about to shift,” said Tim Evans, an energy analyst with Citi Futures Perspective in New York. “It’s the idea that supply is about to drop. We’ve had some shut-ins announced and had this dramatic decline in drilling activity.”
Natural gas for June delivery rose 17.3 cents, or 5.1 percent, to settle at $3.546 per million British thermal units at 3:05 p.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the biggest one-day gain since March 19. Gas touched $3.155 per million Btu on April 27, the lowest price since September 2002.
Baker Hughes said natural gas rigs fell by one to 741, the lowest since Feb. 7, 2003. It was the smallest decline since November, the last time the gas rig count increased. The count was 54 percent below a peak of 1,606 on Sept. 12.
Gas supplies have yet to show a meaningful response to a decline in drilling as companies close off less productive areas first, Evans said.
Decline in Drilling
“This isn’t a subtle decline in activity,” he said. “The timing of the inflection point is unknown, though there is nothing we can do today to prevent a decline in U.S. gas production. It’s unavoidable.”
The drop in supplies will probably coincide with a recovery in the economy, pushing prices higher, Evans said.
“The further forward you look, over the next 18 to 24 months, the more likely you are to have a material decline in production and a recovery in demand and price,” he said. “This market will bottom. I don’t see a lot of risk-reward being short here.”
Confidence among U.S. consumers rose more than forecast in April to its highest level since before the collapse of credit late last year unleashed a financial panic that sent the economy into freefall.
The Reuters/University of Michigan final index of consumer sentiment rose to 65.1 from 57.3 in March, the biggest gain in more than two years. The index reached a three-decade low of 55.3 in November.
“We seem to be more optimistic about the economy,” said Evans.
Factory Report
Separately, an industry survey showed manufacturing in the U.S. shrank in April at the slowest pace in seven months. The Institute for Supply Management’s factory index rose to 40.1 last month, higher than forecast, from 36.3 in March. Readings less than 50 signal a contraction.
Rising crude oil prices also helped to support natural gas prices, said Chris Jarvis, president of Caprock Risk Management LLC in Hampton Falls, New Hampshire.
“Natural gas will have a tough time getting lower,” said Jarvis. “As long as crude oil moves higher toward that $55 level it will drag gas along.”
Crude Gains
Crude oil for June delivery rose 3.9 percent to $53.11 a barrel on the New York exchange as the consumer confidence and manufacturing reports sparked buying.
Gas futures have dropped 37 percent this year on signs tumbling demand from factories and power plants will send inventory levels to a record high. Gains today accelerated as traders who had made bad bets on falling prices bought contracts to cancel those positions.
U.S. natural gas inventories increased by 82 billion cubic feet in the week ended April 24 to 1.823 trillion cubic feet, the Energy Department said yesterday. Supplies were 23 percent higher than the five-year average.
“Markets don’t just discount bad news immediately. They don’t go down in straight-line fashion, they sell off 10 cents and recover and then head back down,” said Jim Ritterbusch, president of Ritterbusch & Associates in Galena, Illinois.
To contact the reporter on this story: Reg Curren in Calgary at rcurren@bloomberg.net.
Saturday, May 2, 2009
Liquied Natural Gas Terminal for Coos Bay
Fort Chicago Energy Partners said last week that the Jordan Cove Energy Project and the Pacific Connector Gas Pipeline received a final environmental impact statement from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for their plan to build a natural gas import terminal and pipeline in Oregon.
The impact statement “is a significant milestone for these projects,” said Stephen White, Fort Chicago’s president.
“The next step in the process will be for the FERC to issue a certificate of public convenience and necessity, which we expect to receive later this summer,” he said.
Jordan Cove Energy Project is a subsidiary of Fort Chicago, and Pacific Connector Gas Pipeline is a limited partnership between subsidiaries of Williams Cos., PG&E Corp. and Fort Chicago.
Construction of a liquefied natural gas terminal in Coos Bay will take about three years, and the 234-mile pipeline will take two years to build, Fort Chicago said.
The impact statement “is a significant milestone for these projects,” said Stephen White, Fort Chicago’s president.
“The next step in the process will be for the FERC to issue a certificate of public convenience and necessity, which we expect to receive later this summer,” he said.
Jordan Cove Energy Project is a subsidiary of Fort Chicago, and Pacific Connector Gas Pipeline is a limited partnership between subsidiaries of Williams Cos., PG&E Corp. and Fort Chicago.
Construction of a liquefied natural gas terminal in Coos Bay will take about three years, and the 234-mile pipeline will take two years to build, Fort Chicago said.
Friday, May 1, 2009
U.S. Natural Gas Inventories Up This Year
Increased stockpiles push natural gas futures prices down
By Tom Stundza -- Purchasing, 4/30/2009 11:33:00 AM
Natural gas storage levels rose slightly more than expected last week as demand for the fuel continues to be weak.
The Energy Information Administration’s weekly natural gas storage report says inventories held in underground storage in the lower 48 states rose by 82 billion cubic feet to about 1.82 trillion cubic feet for the week ended April 24, higher than analysts’ expectations.
The inventory level is 34% above the year-ago average of 1.36 trillion cubic feet, and 23% above the five-year average of 1.49 trillion cubic feet, according to the government data.
Since the EIA report was published this morning, natural gas futures for June deliveries had dropped 15¢ in midday trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange (Nymex) to $3.39 per 1,000 cubic feet.
Analysts had expected a boost of between 76 billion to 81 billion cubic feet, according to a survey by Platts, the energy information arm of McGraw-Hill ( MHP - news - people ) Cos.
The inventory level was 34 percent above the year-ago average of 1.34 trillion cubic feet, and 23 percent above the five-year average of 1.49 trillion cubic feet, according to the government data.
After the report, natural gas fell 10 cents to $3.306 per 1,000 cubic feet on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
By Tom Stundza -- Purchasing, 4/30/2009 11:33:00 AM
Natural gas storage levels rose slightly more than expected last week as demand for the fuel continues to be weak.
The Energy Information Administration’s weekly natural gas storage report says inventories held in underground storage in the lower 48 states rose by 82 billion cubic feet to about 1.82 trillion cubic feet for the week ended April 24, higher than analysts’ expectations.
The inventory level is 34% above the year-ago average of 1.36 trillion cubic feet, and 23% above the five-year average of 1.49 trillion cubic feet, according to the government data.
Since the EIA report was published this morning, natural gas futures for June deliveries had dropped 15¢ in midday trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange (Nymex) to $3.39 per 1,000 cubic feet.
Analysts had expected a boost of between 76 billion to 81 billion cubic feet, according to a survey by Platts, the energy information arm of McGraw-Hill ( MHP - news - people ) Cos.
The inventory level was 34 percent above the year-ago average of 1.34 trillion cubic feet, and 23 percent above the five-year average of 1.49 trillion cubic feet, according to the government data.
After the report, natural gas fell 10 cents to $3.306 per 1,000 cubic feet on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
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