Natural Gas Futures Drop After Report of U.S. Inventory Gain

By Bill Banker

Sept. 18 (Bloomberg) -- Natural gas futures fell after the Energy Department said U.S. stockpiles increased more than forecast last week.

Supplies rose 67 billion cubic feet in the week ended Sept. 12, the department said. Analysts expected an increase of 63 billion, based on the median of 23 estimates in a Bloomberg survey.

Natural gas for October delivery dropped 17.6 cents, or 2.2 percent, to $7.734 per million British thermal units at 10:37 a.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The futures were trading at $7.938 per million Btu before the report was released at 10:35 a.m. in Washington.

To contact the reporter on this story: Bill Banker in New York at bbanker@bloomberg.net.