Reply #49: DOE: NatGas stocks up 75 bln cubic ft [View All]

[UpInArms]

10:31am 10/20/05 U.S. NATURAL GAS STKS UP 75 BLN CUBIC FT: ENERGY DEPT

10:31am 10/20/05 NATURAL GAS STKS TOP 3 TRILLION CUBIC FT, 1ST TIME SINCE DEC

Natural gas drops as much as 5%
Stocks highest since December; crude down 2%

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story.asp?guid=%7B90C78046%2D8CF1%2D4EE7%2D9508%2DA07088C6B78D%7D&siteid=mktw

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Natural-gas futures fell as much as 5% Thursday after a government report revealed that domestic supplies of the heating fuel climbed above 3 trillion cubic feet for the first time since mid-December of last year.

November natural gas dropped to a four-session, intraday low of $12.85 per million British thermal units on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It was last at $12.95, down 59.9 cents, or 4.4%.

Supplies of the heating fuel climbed 75 billion cubic for the week ended Oct. 14, the Energy Department said Thursday. Stocks in storage now total 3.062 trillion cubic feet.

The 3 trillion-cubic-foot level is the amount historically seen as adequate to meet heating demand for a normal winter. And supplies haven't topped that mark since Dec. 17, 2004, according to government data.

The weekly inventory climb also surpassed market expectations. IFR was looking for an increase of between 40 billion and 50 billion cubic feet, and Wachovia expected something closer to 61 billion.

Overall, total stocks are down 152 billion cubic feet from the year-ago level but up 53 billion cubic feet from the five-year average, the data showed.

...more...