By David Bird Natural-gas futures added to early losses Thursday after U.S. data showed a bigger-than-expected rise in inventories. The Energy Information Administration said gas storage rose by 91 billion cubic feet last week. That topped the 89 bcf rise expected by analysts and traders surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires and exceeded last year's 63-bcf build in storage for the same week and the 80-bcf five-year average build for the week. Stocks of 2.438 trillion cubic feet now stand at 18.7% below the unusually high year-earlier level and are 1.9% below the five-year average for the week ended June 14. Natural gas for July delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange hit a session low of $3.835 per million British thermal units, after the data, recording a drop of 12.8 cents from the two-week high set on Wednesday. The contract recently traded 2%, or 7.9 cents, lower at $3.884/mmBtu. Prices had gained 23 cents over the prior three days, but weather forecasts aren't providing the clear signals for above-normal temperatures in the heavily populated eastern U.S. in coming weeks that analysts said are needed to support recent high prices.

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