-- US natural gas futures were up on Friday, despite the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and a higher-than-expected injection into storage.
The front-month Henry Hub contract and the continuous benchmark each climbed 0.26% to settle at $2.65 per million British thermal units.
In a Truth Social post on Friday, US President Donald Trump said that the Strait of Hormuz was "completely open and ready for business."
Iran's Foreign Minister Seyyed Abbas Araghchi confirmed this in a post on X, declaring the Strait open. He, however, added a caveat that this would only last until the ceasefire, which is set to expire on Tuesday unless extended.
Nonetheless, this marked a major de-escalation in the conflict, following seven long weeks during which the strategically critical Strait, which accounts for 20% of global LNG flows, was effectively closed due to Iranian threats against merchant vessels.
On the domestic front, the US Energy Information Administration reported a 59 billion cubic feet net injection of natural gas into storage for the week ended Apr. 10, up from a net injection of 50 Bcf during the prior week, and 22 Bcf a year ago.
The reported figure was also ahead of forecasts estimating a net injection of 50 Bcf, according to data compiled by Investing.com, further weighing on US natural gas prices.
The EIA also noted a 6.4 Bcf per day drop in demand from residential and commercial sectors during the week, largely due to reduced heating demand, amid milder weather conditions throughout the country.
Weather conditions have remained bearish over the past few weeks, but have taken a bullish turn in recent days, with large swathes of Central and Northeastern US forecasted to experience below normal temperatures from April 24 to April 30, according to the National Weather Service.