NEW YORK (AP) -- The nation's natural gas inventories continued to grow last week, the government said Thursday.
The Energy Department said that natural gas in storage increased by 77 billion cubic feet to 2.744 trillion cubic feet for the week ended May 18.
Analysts expected an increase in a range between 75 billion cubic feet and 79 billion cubic feet, according to a survey by Platts, the energy arm of McGraw-Hill Cos.
The inventory level was 37.6 percent more than the year-ago level of 1.994 trillion cubic feet and 37.8 percent more than the five-year average of 1.991 trillion cubic feet, according to the weekly report from the Energy Information Administration.
Natural gas prices fell 4 cents to $2.75 per 1,000 cubic feet in New York.
