By Reg Curren April 15 (Bloomberg) -- Natural gas futures fell in New York before a weekly government report today that will probably show a bigger-than-average increase in stockpiles of the power- plant and industrial fuel. The Energy Department may say inventories gained 81 billion cubic feet last week, based on the median of 25 analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg. The five-year average gain is 21 billion. Last week’s report showed that supplies were 12 percent above average on mild weather and weak demand. “It’s a pretty hefty build,” said Phil Flynn, vice president of research at PFGBest in Chicago. “We’ve got this anchor holding the bulls back with a strong supply side and any rallies will be tempered by that. There’s also the risk prices will correct hard.” Natural gas for May delivery fell 1.8 cents, or 0.4 percent, to $4.181 per million British thermal units at 9:15 a.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract has dropped 25 percent since the end of December.

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