Investing.com - Natural gas futures briefly fell to a one-week low on Thursday, after data showed that U.S. natural gas supplies rose more than expected last week.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, natural gas for delivery in July fell to a session low of $4.580 per million British thermal units, the lowest since June 12, before trimming losses to last trade at $4.639 during U.S. morning hours, down 0.44%, or 2.1 cents. Futures traded at $4.645 prior to the release of the supply data.
Natural gas futures ended Wednesday’s session down 1.06%, or 5.0 cents, to settle at $4.659.
Prices were likely to find support at $4.520 per million British thermal units, the low from June 12 and resistance at $4.886, the high from June 16.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration said in its weekly report that natural gas storage in the U.S. in the week ended June 13 rose by 113 billion cubic feet, above forecasts for an increase of 110 billion cubic feet.
Stockpiles increased by 92 billion cubic feet in the same week a year earlier, while the five-year average build for the week is 87 billion.
Total U.S. natural gas storage stood at 1.719 trillion cubic feet. Stocks were 706 billion cubic feet less than last year at this time and 851 billion cubic feet below the five-year average of 2.570 trillion cubic feet for this time of year.
Producers would need to add approximately 2.6 trillion cubic feet to storage by November 1 to meet typical winter demand, analysts said.
Meanwhile, updated weather-forecasting models showed that warmer weather was expected in the U.S. Central and East over the next five days before cooling in the East over the next six-to-10 days.
Demand for natural gas tends to rise in the summer months as warmer temperatures increase the need for gas-fired electricity to power air conditioning.
Elsewhere on the Nymex, crude oil for delivery in August eased up 0.25%, or 27 cents, to trade at $105.86 a barrel, while heating oil for July delivery tacked on 0.33% to trade at $3.050 per gallon.