Lower 48 natural gas storage operators deposited a net 114 Bcf into inventories in the week ended May 24, above the five-year-average injection of 97 Bcf, the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported.

The injection, which topped a 95-Bcf forecast by an S&P Global Platts analyst survey, brought total working gas supply in the Lower 48 to 1,867 Bcf, or 156 Bcf above the year-ago level and 257 Bcf below the five-year average.

By region:

* In the East, stockpiles grew 30 Bcf on the week at 383 Bcf, 18% more than a year earlier.

* In the Midwest, stockpiles rose 35 Bcf at 399 Bcf, 28% more than a year earlier.

* In the Mountain region, inventories grew 4 Bcf at 93 Bcf, down 17% from a year earlier.

* In the Pacific region, stockpiles rose 12 Bcf at 198 Bcf, 10% below the year-ago level.

* In the South Central region, storage levels were up 31 Bcf at 793 Bcf, 7% more than a year earlier.

Of that total, 253 Bcf was in salt cavern facilities and 540 Bcf was non-salt-cavern. Working gas stocks rose 2% in salt cavern facilities from the week before and rose 5.3% in non-salt-cavern facilities.

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