Investing.com - Natural gas futures shot up on Thursday after official data revealed that U.S. natural gas supplies rose less than expected last week.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, natural gas futures for delivery in July traded at $4.756 per million British thermal units during U.S. trading, up 5.49%. The commodity hit a session high of $4.759 and a low of $4.518.
The July contract settled down 0.49% on Wednesday to end at $4.508 per million British thermal units.
Natural gas futures were likely to find support at $4.504 per million British thermal units, Wednesday's low, and resistance at $4.827, the high from May 7.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration said in its weekly report that natural gas storage in the U.S. in the week ended June 6 rose by 107 billion cubic feet, below forecasts for an increase of 110 billion cubic feet.
Total U.S. natural gas storage stood at 1.606 trillion cubic feet. Stocks were 727 billion cubic feet less than last year at this time and 877 billion cubic feet below the five-year average of 2.483 trillion cubic feet for this time of year.
Producers would need to add approximately 2.5 trillion cubic feet to storage by November 1 to meet typical winter demand, analysts said.
Forecasts for warmer weather fueled the rally as well.
Natgasweather.com reported earlier that weather models called for warmer temperatures to settle over the coming days, while the possibility of a tropical weather system developing in the Gulf of Mexico pushed up prices as well.
Tropical weather systems prompt energy companies to evacuate offshore rigs, which can disrupt supply.
Elsewhere on the NYMEX, light sweet crude oil futures for delivery in July were up 1.75% at $106.23 a barrel, while heating oil for July delivery were up 2.54% at $2.9781 per gallon.