The price of natural gas continued to drop Thursday after the government said U.S. supplies are well above normal for this time of year.
Natural gas prices closed eight cents, or 3.1 per cent, at $2.69 US per 1,000 cubic feet in New York.
Gas supplies have ballooned since the fall.
On Thursday, the Energy Information Administration said supplies are 13.4 per cent higher than what they were a year ago and 17 per cent above the five-year average.
Prices have fallen by 13 per cent in the past week.
Canada’s natural gas producers have been struggling with low prices ranging between three and four dollars for the past two years.
One of the biggest, Calgary-based Encana, on Thursday reached a new 52-week low, touching $18.15, off 47 per cent from its high in March. Its stock closed down 2.2 per cent at $18.20.
Improvements in drilling technologies, especially in the fracturing of shale, have created a glut by opened up enormous new deposits, especially in the eastern U.S. states.
And demand has fallen with a warm winter in North America and a weak U.S. economy.
About half of U.S. homeowners use natural gas for heat.
With files from The Associated Press
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