Natural Gas Sees Little Reaction 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 87 Bcf; the number was slightly more than expected, where analysts' anticipated a draw-down of 86 Bcf. The commodity moved slightly higher initially, but has since slightly bounced lower. From the EIA report, "Working gas in storage was 3,290 Bcf as of Friday, January 13, 2012, according to EIA estimates. This represents a net decline of 87 Bcf from the previous week. Stocks were 539 Bcf higher than last year at this time and 566 Bcf above the 5-year average of 2,724 Bcf. In the East Region, stocks were 224 Bcf above the 5-year average following net withdrawals of 61 Bcf. Stocks in the Producing Region were 276 Bcf above the 5-year average of 888 Bcf after a net withdrawal of 15 Bcf. Stocks in the West Region were 66 Bcf above the 5-year average after a net drawdown of 11 Bcf. At 3,290 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 3.88% on the session at $2.37; down about 20% on the year.