Natural gas futures turn higher after U.S. supply
By
Forexpros |
Commodities News | Nov 08, 2012 03:42PM GMT
Forexpros - Natural gas futures erased losses to turn modestly higher during U.S. morning hours on Thursday, after a report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration showed U.S. gas supplies rose less-than-expected last week.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, natural gas futures for delivery in December traded at USD3.582 per million British thermal units during U.S. morning trade, up 0.1% on the day.
It earlier fell by as much as 1.7% to trade at a session low of USD3.518 per million British thermal units.
The December contract traded at USD3.554 prior to the release of the U.S. Energy Information Administration report.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration said in its weekly report that natural gas storage in the U.S. in the week ended November 2 rose by 21 billion cubic feet, below market expectations for an increase of 27 billion cubic feet.
Inventories rose by 48 billion cubic feet in the same week a year earlier, while the five-year average change for the week is an increase of 36 billion cubic feet, according to U.S. Energy Department data.
Total U.S. natural gas storage stood at 3.929 trillion cubic feet as of last week, an all-time record that surpasses the previous peak of 3.852 trillion cubic feet reached last November.
Stocks were 109 billion cubic feet higher than last year at this time and 244 billion cubic feet above the five-year average of 3.685 trillion cubic feet for this time of year.
The report showed that in the East Region, stocks were 38 billion cubic feet above the five-year average, following a net injection of 5 billion cubic feet.
Stocks in the Producing Region were 153 billion cubic feet above the five-year average of 1.132 billion cubic feet, after a net injection of 8 billion cubic feet.
Meanwhile, updated weather forecasts released earlier pointed to mostly mild temperatures across much of the U.S. in the next six-to-ten days, weighing on early-winter heating demand.
The U.S. National Weather Service's six-to-10-day outlook called for above-normal temperatures for much of the eastern half of the nation and below-normal readings in much of the West.