HOUSTON, July 30 (Xinhua) -- Working gas storage in the contiguous United States was 3,241 billion cubic feet (about 91.77 billion cubic meters) in the week ending July 24, a net increase of 26 billion cubic feet, or 0.8 percent, from the previous week, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said Thursday in a report.

The total working gas storage increased by 23.9 percent from this time last year, or 15.3 percent above the five-year average, but still within the five-year historical range, according to the EIA's Weekly Natural Gas Storage Report.

The storage of working gas usually turns to decrease in November and will continue to drop in April when heating season ends in the country, according to the previous data.

Working gas is defined as the amount of natural gas stored underground that can be withdrawn for use. Its storage capacity can be measured in two ways: design capacity and demonstrated maximum working gas capacity.

The contiguous United States consists of the 48 adjoining states of the United States, plus the District of Columbia, and excludes the non-contiguous states of Alaska and Hawaii, and all off-shore insular areas.

As the world's important energy producers and consumers, the United States and China have great potential in energy cooperation, experts said.

According to the latest release from Chinese National Bureau of Statistics, China's natural gas imports increased 10.8 percent in June 2020 to 8.33 million tonnes from the same month of last year. Enditem