Natural gas drops as U.S. supplies rise more than expected
Published Jun 20, 2013 01:05PM ET
In the New York Mercantile Exchange, natural gas futures for delivery in July traded at USD3.882 per million British thermal units, down 2.06%.
The commodity hit a session low of USD3.855 and a high of USD3.965.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration said in its weekly report that natural gas storage in the U.S. in the week ended June 14 rose by 91 billion cubic feet, above market expectations for an increase of 90 billion.
Inventories rose by 63 billion cubic feet in the same week a year earlier, while the five-year average change for the week is a rise of 80 billion cubic feet.
Total U.S. natural gas storage stood at 2.438 trillion cubic feet as of last week. Stocks were 559 billion cubic feet less than last year at this time and 47 billion cubic feet below the five-year average of 2.485 trillion cubic feet for this time of year.
The report showed that in the East Region, stocks were 94 billion cubic feet below the five-year average, following net injections of 60 billion cubic feet.
Stocks in the Producing Region were 3 billion cubic feet above the five-year average of 930 billion cubic feet after a net injection of 20 billion cubic feet.
The numbers wiped out gains stemming from weather forecasts pointing to higher temperatures.
Both the National Weather Service and private-sector weather forecasters predicted above-normal temperatures for most of the U.S. through the end of June.
Hotter temperatures send prices rising on sentiments that demand for natural gas will increase at the country's thermal power plants as businesses and households crank up their air conditioning.
Natural gas accounts for about a quarter of U.S. electricity generation.
Elsewhere on the NYMEX, light sweet crude oil futures for delivery in August were down 2.93% and trading at USD95.59 a barrel, while heating oil futures for July delivery were down 2.94% at USD2.8853 per gallon.
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Written By: Investing.com
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