Natural gas futures rally to 8-week high with storm activity in focus
Investing.com
Published Sep 16, 2013 10:39AM ET
Energy traders track tropical storm activity in the event it disrupts production in the Gulf of Mexico, which is home to nearly 5% of U.S. natural gas production.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, natural gas futures for delivery in October traded at USD3.719 per million British thermal units during U.S. morning trade, up 1.15%.
Natural gas prices rose by as much as 1.35% earlier in the day to hit a session high of USD3.727 per million British thermal units, the strongest level since July 25. The October contract settled 1.1% higher on Friday at USD3.677 per million British thermal units.
Over the weekend, Hurricane Ingrid drifted west across the Bay of Campeche, before weakening to a tropical storm as it went ashore in northern Mexico.
Meanwhile, upward momentum from last week’s bullish U.S. supply report continued to support prices.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration said on Thursday that natural gas storage in the U.S. rose by 65 billion cubic feet last week, below market expectations for an increase of 66 billion cubic feet.
Inventories increased by 27 billion cubic feet in the same week a year earlier, while the five-year average change for the week is a build of 62 billion cubic feet.
Total U.S. natural gas storage stood at 3.253 trillion cubic feet as of last week, 1.4% above the five-year average for the same week and 5% below last year's unusually high level.
Early injection estimates for this week’s storage data range from 55 billion cubic feet to 68 billion cubic feet, compared to a 61 billion cubic feet increase during the same week a year earlier.
The five-year average for the week is a build of 74 billion cubic feet.
Elsewhere on the NYMEX, light sweet crude oil futures for delivery in November fell 0.95% to trade at USD106.53 a barrel, while heating oil for October delivery declined 0.8% to trade at USD3.088 per gallon.
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Written By: Investing.com
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