"US natgas futures up 5 pct after light EIA storage build"

From Reuters:

* Front-month futures spike after bullish EIA storage build
    * Extended forecasts still show more heat for eastern half of U.S.
    * Record storage, high production still concerns for bulls
    * Coming Up: Baker Hughes rig data, CFTC trade data Friday

 Front-month U.S. natural gas futures climbed
sharply early Thursday after a government report showed a weekly inventory build
well below market expectations.

 The U.S. Energy Information Administration reported total domestic gas
inventories rose last week by 24 billion cubic feet to 3.241 trillion cubic
feet. 

 The build came in below the Reuters poll estimate of 30 bcf and prompted a
sharp rally. The weekly injection fell well short of last year's gain of 31 bcf
and the five-year average increase for that week of 45 bcf.

 "The net injection was at the lower end of the range of expectations,
bullish compared with newswire consensus forecasts and likewise bullish compared
with either the refill in the same week last year or the five-year average for
the date," Tim Evans, analyst at Citi Futures Perspective, said in a report.

 At 11:25 a.m. EDT (1525 GMT), front-month gas futures on the New York
Mercantile Exchange were up 16 cents, or 5.4 percent, at $3.093 per million
British thermal units....

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