By Christine Buurma Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--Natural gas futures slid Thursday after government data showed a build in inventories that was below most market expectations, but larger than some analysts and traders had predicted. Natural gas for September delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange was trading 8.1 cents lower, or 1.71%, at $4.656 a million British thermal units. Futures were about 13.6 cents below where they were trading prior to the data release. The U.S. Energy Information Administration reported an injection into gas storage of 29 billion cubic feet for the week ended July 30, below the 34 bcf analysts and traders had predicted in a Dow Jones Newswires survey. The storage below last year's 67 bcf build in storage for the same week and the five-year average build for that week, which was 47 bcf. The latest injection brings the total amount of gas in storage to 2.948 trillion cubic feet, 8.1% above the five-year average for the same week and 4.3% below last year's level for that week. Before the storage data were released, gas futures rose on anticipation that the build in inventories would be smaller than most market forecasts, said Allen Rather, an independent energy analyst in Victoria, Texas. Although the injection was smaller than expected, "there had been whispers of a mid-20s injection," Rather said. Gas futures are likely to remain with a narrow trading range in the absence of storm activity that could disrupt energy infrastructure in the Gulf of Mexico, he said.

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