Natural gas prices surged to a six-month intraday high after a closely watched government report showed demand for natural gas was stronger than expected last week. Natural gas for January delivery was recently up $1.08, or 2.73%, to $4.068 a million British thermal units on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the highest intraday price since May 30. The Energy Information Administration reported natural gas stockpiles fell by 162 billion cubic feet in the week ended Nov. 29. Analysts and traders had expected a 144-bcf draw, according to a Wall Street Journal survey. Stocks stood at 3.614 trillion cubic feet as of Nov. 29, the lowest inventory level for that time of year since 2008. The current storage levels are 5.2% below the exceptionally high year-ago level and 2.8% below the five-year average for the week. Stocks haven’t been below the five-year average since July 26. Temperatures were […]