Natural gas sold off sharply Thursday, touching a new 17-year low, as weekly U.S. data showed supplies falling far less than expected and underscoring robust production and weak gas-fired heating demand at the tail-end of a mild U.S. winter. The U.S. Energy Information Administration said domestic stockpiles of natural gas fell 117 billion cubic feet in the week ended Feb. 19, well less than the 138 billion cubic-foot decline projected in a consensus estimate of analysts surveyed by The Wall Street Journal. The decline was also far less than the 205 bcf drawdown in the same week last year and the five-year average drain of 144 bcf for that week. The agency said the U.S. now has 2.584 trillion cubic feet of gas in storage, 31.2% above year-ago levels and 28.7% above the five-year average. Natural-gas prices, already down in the start of the morning trading session, fell sharply […]