US natural gas supplies shrank last week

[February 03, 2012]  NEW YORK (AP) -- The nation's natural gas supplies fell last week, the government said Thursday.

The Energy Department's Energy Information Administration said in its weekly report that natural gas in storage shrank by 132 billion cubic feet to 2.966 trillion cubic feet for the week ended Jan. 27.

Analysts expected a drop of 123 billion to 127 billion cubic feet, according to a survey by Platts, the energy information arm of McGraw-Hill Cos.

The inventory level was 25.4 percent above the five-year average of 2.365 trillion cubic feet, and 24.6 percent above last year's level of 2.380 trillion cubic feet, according to the government data.

Natural gas rose 4 cents to $2.42 per 1,000 cubic feet in New York.

[Associated Press]

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