Forexpros – Natural gas futures added to losses on Thursday, falling to a two-week low after the U.S. Energy Information Administration said 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 USD3.623 per million British thermal units during U.S. morning trade, shedding 0.79%.
It earlier fell by as much as 1.05% to trade at USD3.619 per million British thermal units, the lowest price since October 20.
The December contract traded at USD3.653 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 November 4 rose by 37 billion cubic feet, after increasing by 78 billion cubic feet in the preceding week.
Analysts had expected U.S. natural gas storage to rise by 31 billion cubic feet. Supplies climbed by 26 billion cubic feet in the same week a year earlier, while the five-year average change is a buildup of 23 billion cubic feet.
Total U.S. natural gas storage stood at 3.831 trillion cubic feet. Stocks were 6 billion cubic feet less than last year at this time and 215 billion cubic feet above the five-year average of 3.616 trillion cubic feet for this time of year.
The report showed that in the East Region, stocks were 48 billion cubic feet above the five-year average, following net injections of 16 billion cubic feet.
Stocks in the Producing Region were 144 billion cubic feet above the five-year average of 1.091 trillion cubic feet, after a net injection of 15 billion cubic feet.
Natural gas prices came under pressure earlier as mild weather forecast across major gas-consuming regions in the U.S. was expected to limit demand for the heating fuel.
Industry weather group MDA Federal forecast temperatures in the Northeast U.S. states to rise to 8 to 14 degrees above normal from November 14 to November 18.
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 jumped 1.44% to trade at USD97.11 a barrel, while heating oil for December delivery gained 0.99% to trade at USD3.129 per gallon.
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