EIA reports a smaller-than-expected weekly rise in U.S. supplies

The U.S. Energy Information Administration reported on Thursday that domestic natural-gas supplies rose by 18 billion cubic feet for the week ended Aug. 12. That compared to an average forecast for an increase of 34 billion cubic feet from analysts polled by S&P Global Commodity Insights. Total working gas stocks in storage stand at 2.519 trillion cubic feet, down 296 billion cubic feet from a year ago and 367 billion cubic feet below the five-year average, the government said. Following the data, September natural gas was up 25.8 cents, or 2.8%, at $9.502 per million British thermal units. Prices, which traded at $9.349 before the supply data, looked to top Tuesday's settlement of $9.329, which was the highest since August 2008.