US natural gas inventories decreased by 132 billion cubic feet.

Due to the cold weather in the northeastern United States increasing heating demand, last week's natural gas inventories in the United States fell more than expected. The U.S. Energy Information Administration reported that in the week ending February 27, natural gas inventories in underground storage decreased by 132 billion cubic feet to 1,886 billion cubic feet. This widened the deficit of inventories compared to the five-year average from 7 billion cubic feet the previous week to 43 billion cubic feet. Analysts surveyed by The Wall Street Journal had previously predicted a decrease in inventories of 125 billion cubic feet, with forecasts ranging from 116 billion cubic feet to 137 billion cubic feet. Natural gas prices on the New York Mercantile Exchange maintained a slight uptrend, rising by 0.8% to $2.941 per million British thermal units.