Natural Gas Spikes Lower after Storage Data

On Thursday morning at 10:30 ET, the U.S. Energy Information Administration released its weekly report on natural gas stockpiles. Natural gas stockpiles declined 166 Bcf, which was less than expected, as analysts' anticipated a draw-down of 170 Bcf. The commodity spiked lower on heavy volume after the reading was reported. From the EIA report, "Working gas in storage was 2,595 Bcf as of Friday, February 17, 2012, according to EIA estimates. This represents a net decline of 166 Bcf from the previous week. Stocks were 753 Bcf higher than last year at this time and 744 Bcf above the 5-year average of 1,851 Bcf. In the East Region, stocks were 300 Bcf above the 5-year average following net withdrawals of 97 Bcf. Stocks in the Producing Region were 343 Bcf above the 5-year average of 650 Bcf after a net withdrawal of 58 Bcf. Stocks in the West Region were 102 Bcf above the 5-year average after a net drawdown of 11 Bcf. At 2,595 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 1.3% lower on the session at $2.60; down about 12% on the year.