Natural Gas Falls as Storage Increases Above Expectations

Early last week natural gas shot up from 3.783 to a high of 3.998 on Tuesday before falling sharply on Thursday to 3.812 and finally closed the week at 3.849. The price fell after data showed that US stockpiles increased beyond expectations in the last few weeks.

In its weekly report the US Energy Information Administration said that natural gas storage in the US rose by 92 billion cubic feet in the week ending September 5th. This was well above expectations for an increase of 82 billion cubic feet. Total US natural gas storage stood at 2.801 trillion cubic feet.

The price may fall further as the weather forecast doesn’t include cold enough temperatures to seriously increase demand for heating.

However, the National Hurricane Center has warned of the possibility of a tropical cyclone in the Gulf of Mexico which could temporarily raise prices as rigs are evacuated while the storm passes.