Natural Gas Sees Little Reaction 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 increased 77 bcf, which was slightly lower than estimates, as analysts' anticipated an inventory build of 78 bcf. The commodity initially moved lower, then bounced higher on heavy volume after the data was reported, as inventories increased less than what was anticipated. From the EIA report, "Working gas in storage was 2,744 Bcf as of Friday, May 18, 2012, according to EIA estimates. This represents a net increase of 77 Bcf from the previous week. Stocks were 750 Bcf higher than last year at this time and 753 Bcf above the 5-year average of 1,991 Bcf. In the East Region, stocks were 381 Bcf above the 5-year average following net injections of 45 Bcf. Stocks in the Producing Region were 274 Bcf above the 5-year average of 790 Bcf after a net injection of 19 Bcf. Stocks in the West Region were 98 Bcf above the 5-year average after a net addition of 13 Bcf. At 2,744 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 0.4% lower on the session at $2.726. UNG