09:12 AM EDT, 09/16/2022 (MT Newswires) -- Benchmark natural gas fell early on Friday, dropping for a second session after US inventories of the fuel rose more than expected.
Gas for October delivery was last seen down US$0.17 to US$8.16 per million British thermal units.
The drop comes after the Energy Information Administration on Thursday said inventories of the fuel stored for winter use rose by 77-billion cubic feet last week, more than the consensus estimate of about 71 bcf.
"Last week's 77bcf build came in looser than expectations in the 71-73bcf range (TPH 73bcf coming into the print), but tighter than the 5-year average build of 82bcf, pushing inventories to 2,771bcf - an 11% deficit to the 5-year avg. of 3,125bcf," Tudor, Pickering, Holt analyst Matt Murphy noted.
Warmer than seasonal weather has offered support for prices, keeping cooling demand higher than usual as hot weather persists over big eastern markets despite the approach of autumn. The National Weather Service six to 10-day forecast sees temperatures east of the Rocky Mountains running mostly above seasonal for the period.