Natural gas prices rose slightly on Thursday, as warmer weather and rising power-sector demand keep encouraging traders. Prices for the front-month June contract gained 3.4 cents, or 1.2%, to $2.949 a million British thermal units on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gas prices are up 18% since they hit a nearly three-year low on April 27. The U.S. Energy Information Administration said on Thursday that storage levels grew by 92 billion cubic feet in the week ended May 15. That is 5 bcf less than the 97-bcf average of forecasters surveyed by The Wall Street Journal. The EIA update is widely considered one of the best measures of supply and demand for the natural-gas market. This figure would indicate slightly smaller supply or larger demand than expected. And it suggests the market has become more balanced from how it was two to four weeks ago, said […]