Decreased Additions to US Natural Gas Inventories Buoy Futures

Reuters reported that US natural gas futures were brought by up a report that indicates that government inventories of natural gas increased less than expected this week. Inventory additions are expected to be similarly decreased next week.

As quoted in the market news:

“The 28 bcf net injection was bullish relative to both the consensus expectations for a 36-bcf build and the 60-bcf five-year average gain for the week. The data basically confirms that there was a larger net impact from Hurricane Isaac than had been assumed,” said Citi Futures energy analyst, Tim Evans.

As of 11:26 a.m. EDT (1526 GMT), front-month October natural gas futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange were at $2.834 per million British thermal units, up 3.9 cents, or more than 1 percent.

The contract rose as high as $2.866 immediately following the release of the weekly storage data at 10:30 a.m..

The nearby contract peaked at $3.277 in late July, its highest mark since December.

Click here to read the full Reuters report.