Natural Gas Falls to Lowest Level Since Sept '09 on Stockpile Miss

On Thursday morning at 10:30, the U.S. Energy Information Administration released its weekly report on natural gas stockpiles. Natural gas stockpiles declined 81 Bcf; however, not as much as expected, where analysts' anticipated a draw-down of 85 Bcf. The commodity spiked lower, and continued to move that direction for most of Thursday's trading session. Natural gas futures hit $3.001, which is not only yearly lows, but the lowest level since September of 2009, where it hit a low of $2.409. From the report, "Working gas in storage was 3,548 Bcf as of Friday, December 23, 2011, according to EIA estimates. This represents a net decline of 81 Bcf from the previous week. Stocks were 297 Bcf higher than last year at this time and 428 Bcf above the 5-year average of 3,120 Bcf. In the East Region, stocks were 186 Bcf above the 5-year average following net withdrawals of 53 Bcf. Stocks in the Producing Region were 216 Bcf above the 5-year average of 989 Bcf after a net withdrawal of 9 Bcf. Stocks in the West Region were 27 Bcf above the 5-year average after a net drawdown of 19 Bcf. At 3,548 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 down 3.14% on the session at $3.023. Follow me on Twitter @bpilzner Sign up for a free subscription to the Weekly Radar - Benzinga's weekly newsletter highlighting technical levels and analysis for major markets for the week ahead.