U.S. natural gas in storage grows

The Associated Press reports that natural gas in storage in the U.S. grew last week and is about 8.7 percent above the five-year average for this time of year. The Energy Department''s Energy Information Administration said in its weekly report that natural gas inventories held in underground storage in the lower 48 states grew by 4 billion cubic feet to 3.54 trillion cubic feet for the week ending Nov. 16. The inventory level was well above the five-year average of about 3.26 trillion cubic feet in underground storage, and ahead of last year''s storage level of 3.45 trillion cubic feet, according to the government data released a day early due to the Thanksgiving holiday.