Submitted by Fox First at Ten on December 20th
NEW YORK (AP) - The nation's natural gas supplies fell last week, the government said Thursday.
The Energy Department's Energy Information Administration reported that natural gas in storage shrank by 82 billion cubic feet to 3.724 trillion cubic feet for the week ended Dec. 14.
Analysts expected a decline of 74 billion to 78 billion cubic feet, according to a survey by Platts, the energy information arm of McGraw-Hill Cos.
The inventory level was 10.2 percent above the five-year average of 3.379 trillion cubic feet, and 1.8 percent above last year's level of 3.658 trillion cubic feet, according to the government data.
Natural gas futures rose 11 cents to $3.43 per 1,000 cubic feet in New York.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
