Natural gas hits two-month high on upbeat inventories data

Natural gas futures rose to the highest since July as EIAs weekly report showed that U.S. gas inventories rose less than analysts expected and the increase was well below five-year average.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, natural gas futures for delivery in October traded at $3.781 per million British thermal units at 14:49 GMT, up 1.82% on the day. Prices surged to a session high of $3.810 per mBtu, the highest since July 19, while days low stood at $3.717 per mBtu. The fuel fell by 0.5% on Wednesday but extended its weekly decline to over 2.6% following Thursdays advance.

Gas continued to advance after trading higher throughout the day as the Energy Information Administration reported that U.S. natural gas stockpiles rose by 46 billion cubic feet in the week ended September 13. Total gas held in underground storage hubs now equaled 3 299 billion cubic feet and was 5.4% below last years 3 486 billion during the comparable week. The surplus over the five-year average inventories narrowed down to 0.5% after remaining unchanged for two weeks at 1.4%, indicating increased recent demand.

EIAs upbeat data surpassed both analysts projections and the five-year average. According to a Bloomberg survey, U.S. gas stockpiles were expected to have risen by 59 billion cubic feet in the week ended September 13, compared to a 61 billion gain in the comparable period a year ago and the five-year average increase of 74 billion cubic feet. Analysts surveyed by Platts, the energy information arm of McGraw-Hill Cos., expected a build in the range between 55 billion to 59 billion cubic feet.