DOE says natural gas supplies rose last week

Natural gas storage levels in the United States rose slightly less than expected last week, but remain well above historical levels, 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 95 billion cubic feet to about 2.01 trillion cubic feet for the week ended May 8.

Analysts had expected a boost of between 97 billion and 102 billion cubic feet, according to a survey by Platts, the energy information arm of McGraw-Hill Cos.

The inventory level was 23 percent below the five-year average of about 1.64 trillion cubic feet, and 33 percent below last year's storage level of about 1.52 trillion cubic feet, according to the government data.

Natural gas fell more than 3 percent, or 14 cents, to $4.193 per 1,000 cubic feet on the New York Mercantile Exchange.