From Investing.com:
Natural gas futures were lower on Thursday, shrugging off data showing that U.S. natural gas storage fell more-than-expected last week and forecasts for colder year-end temperatures.And from the EIA:
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, natural gas futures for delivery in January were down 0.84% at $3.674 per million British thermal units during U.S. morning trade, from around $3.757 per million Btu ahead of the supply data.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration said in its weekly report that natural gas storage fell by 64 billion cubic feet last week, compared to expectations for a decline of 60 billion after a drop of 51 billion in the previous week.
Inventories fell by 6 billion cubic feet in the same week a year earlier, while the five-year average change is a drop of 258 billion cubic feet.
Total U.S. natural gas storage stood at 3,295 trillion cubic feet.
The home heating fuel rose to session highs earlier after after the latest weather forecasting models indicated that temperatures in the Midwest, Great Lakes and mid-Atlantic regions of the country would be lower than normal from December 27 to December 31.
Approximately 49% of U.S. households use gas for heating, according to the EIA, the statistical arm of the Energy Department.
Weekly Natural Gas Storage Report
for week ending December 12, 2014 | Released: December 18, 2014 at 10:30 a.m. | Next Release: December 24, 2014
Note: The shaded area indicates the range between the
historical minimum and maximum values for the weekly series from 2009
through 2013.
Source: Form EIA-912, "Weekly Underground Natural Gas Storage Report." The dashed vertical lines indicate current and year-ago weekly periods.
Source: Form EIA-912, "Weekly Underground Natural Gas Storage Report." The dashed vertical lines indicate current and year-ago weekly periods.
