SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Natural-gas futures on Thursday rallied after the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported that supplies of natural gas fell 285 billion cubic feet for the week ended Dec. 13. The fall was much more than expected as analysts surveyed by Platts forecast a drop of between 260 billion cubic feet and 264 billion cubic feet. Total stocks now stand at 3.248 trillion cubic feet, down 488 billion cubic feet from a year ago and 261 billion cubic feet below the five-year average, the government said. January natural gas /quotes/zigman/2294299/realtime NGF14 +3.18% was at $4.37 per million British thermal units, up 12 cents, or 2.9%. It was trading around $4.33 before the data.