Natural Gas Spikes Lower Initially after Storage Data

On Thursday morning at 10:30, the U.S. Energy Information Administration released its weekly report on natural gas stockpiles. Natural gas stockpiles declined 78 Bcf, which was less than expected, as analysts' anticipated a draw-down of 86 Bcf. The commodity spiked lower initially, but has since slightly bounced much higher. From the

, "Working gas in storage was 2,888 Bcf as of Friday, February 3, 2012, according to EIA estimates. This represents a net decline of 78 Bcf from the previous week. Stocks were 714 Bcf higher than last year at this time and 714 Bcf above the 5-year average of 2,174 Bcf. In the East Region, stocks were 276 Bcf above the 5-year average following net withdrawals of 59 Bcf. Stocks in the Producing Region were 351 Bcf above the 5-year average of 737 Bcf after a net withdrawal of 11 Bcf. Stocks in the West Region were 87 Bcf above the 5-year average after a net drawdown of 8 Bcf. At 2,888 Bcf, total working gas is above the 5-year historical range." Natural Gas has been a very volatile commodity over the last number of years. The commodity that helps heat our homes has seen lows of under $2.00 and highs of over $15.00. However, within the last few years, natural gas has not traded above $10.00. The commodity has been in a downtrend ever since 2008. Currently, natural gas futures are trading over 2.4% higher on the session at $2.50; down about 17% on the year.