Forexpros – Natural gas futures extended gains on Thursday, climbing to a two-day high despite a report showing that natural gas inventories rose more-than-expected last week.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, natural gas futures for delivery in December traded at USD3.808 per million British thermal units during U.S. morning trade, jumping 1.59% higher.
It earlier rose by as much as 1.85% to trade at USD3.825 per million British thermal units, the highest price since November 1.
The December contract traded at USD3.790 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 October 28 rose by 78 billion cubic feet, after increasing by 92 billion cubic feet in the preceding week.
Analysts had expected U.S. natural gas storage to rise by 73 billion cubic feet. Supplies climbed by 67 billion cubic feet in the same week a year earlier, while the five-year average change is a buildup of 35 billion cubic feet.
Total U.S. natural gas storage stood at 3.794 trillion cubic feet. Stocks were 17 billion cubic feet less than last year at this time and 201 billion cubic feet above the five-year average of 3.593 trillion cubic feet for this time of year.
The report showed that in the East Region, stocks were 39 billion cubic feet above the five-year average, following net injections of 32 billion cubic feet.
Stocks in the Producing Region were 140 billion cubic feet above the five-year average of 1.08 trillion cubic feet, after a net injection of 39 billion cubic feet.
Natural gas prices were boosted earlier after the Commodity Weather Group said that temperatures in western U.S. states will be colder-than-normal through the middle of November.
The weather group added that temperatures across most of the U.S. East Coast and Midwest were expected to be three-to-five degrees warmer-than-normal from November 8 through November 15.
Natural gas prices have closely tracked weather forecasts in recent weeks, as traders try to gauge the impact of shifting forecasts for late October and early November on heating demand.
Elsewhere on the Nymex, light sweet crude oil futures for delivery in December rose 1.15% to trade at USD93.58 a barrel, while heating oil for December delivery gained 0.55% to trade at USD3.016 per gallon.
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