Ahead of the Bell: Natural gas supplies

NEW YORK (AP) — The Energy Department is expected to report that the nation's natural gas supplies increased by a range of 25 billion cubic feet to 29 billion cubic feet for the week that ended Sept. 7, according to analysts surveyed by Platts, the energy information arm of McGraw-Hill Cos.

A build of that size would be less than half the 80 billion cubic feet put in storage in the year-ago period and the five-year average addition of 72 billion cubic feet.

Hamza Khan, an analyst with Schork Group, said the supply disruptions in the wake of Hurricane Isaac were "minimal," and that the lower storage injections are likely related to particularly warmer weather in the eastern United States and along the Gulf of Mexico.

The Energy Information Administration will release its weekly report at 10:30 a.m. Eastern on Thursday.