Commodities
US Natural Gas Update: Futures Rise Amid Below Forecast Storage Injection, Drop in Output
US natural gas futures were up on Friday, after gas injection into storage fell short of forecasts, alongside a drop in output over the past week.The front-month Henry Hub natural gas contract and the continuous contract both rose 0.47% to settle at $2.78 per million British thermal units, and are set to end the week up by 3.11%, according to data from TradingEconomics.The US Energy Information Administration reported a net injection of 79 billion cubic feet into storage for the week ended April 24, bringing total gas inventories to 2,144 Bcf. While this marks a decline from 103 Bcf in injections last week, it was still higher than the five-year average of 63 Bcf.It still came in below expectations at 83 Bcf, missing forecasts and trailing last year's 88 Bcf, according to Investing.com data, which points to a bullish tilt in the report overall.Meanwhile, US natural gas production has weakened over the past week, dropping by 2 Bcf per day, with major producers such as EQT (EQT) cutting output due to low prevailing prices, according to TradingEconomics.Weather forecasts too have turned bullish, with the eastern two-thirds of the country expected to see below-normal temperatures during the first few weeks of May, according to the National Weather Service.However, this is not expected to result in incremental demand for heating gas, as normal temperatures are set to climb over the course of this month.Finally, natural gas deliveries to LNG export facilities edged higher on Friday, at 19.1 Bcf, compared to 18.81 Bcf on Thursday, according to estimates from the Bloomberg LNG Feedgas Model. However, the estimates are still below the 30-day moving average of 19.67 Bcf.Price: $58.39, Change: $-1.69, Percent Change: -2.81%
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