Natural-gas prices slid for a third straight session Wednesday as traders expect stockpile additions to hit an important benchmark. Prices for the front-month July contract settled down 2.2 cents, or 0.5%, to $4.508 a million British thermal units on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It was the lowest closing price for gas in two weeks. Wall Street analysts and brokers on Wednesday predicted the gas producers added 111 billion cubic feet of gas to storage last week. That is 23 bcf larger than the five-year average for that week of the year, and would put stockpiles about on pace to recover from an 11-year low before the peak winter demand season. Producers need to beat average storage additions by 20 bcf to 35 bcf each week for six months in order for power plants and gas utilities to have enough gas on hand next winter, […]