Natural gas stocks climb to record high

By DEBORAH JIAN LEE AP Energy Writer

NEW YORK (AP) - Natural gas stockpile levels rose last week to a new high, the government said Thursday.

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 25 billion cubic feet to about 3.78 trillion cubic feet for the week ended Oct. 23.

Analysts had expected a boost of between 27 billion and 31 billion cubic feet, according to a survey by Platts, the energy information arm of McGraw-Hill Cos.

The inventory level was 12.4 percent above the five-year average of about 3.35 trillion cubic feet, and 11 percent above last year's storage level of about 3.39 trillion cubic feet, according to the government data.

Natural gas 3 cents to $5.036 per 1,000 cubic feet on the New York Mercantile Exchange.