Investing.com - The U.S. Energy Information Administration said in its weekly report that natural gas storage in the U.S. fell by 29 billion cubic feet in the week ended March 30, in line with forecasts.
Thursday’s data compared with a draw of 63 billion cubic feet (bcf) in the preceding week and represented a decline of 697 billion from a year earlier and was also 347 bcf below the five-year average.
Total U.S. natural gas storage stood at 1.3542 trillion cubic feet, 30.4% lower than levels at this time a year ago and also 20.4% below the five-year average for this time of year.
After the report, natural gas for delivery in May on the New York Mercantile Exchange fell 4.4 cents, or about 1.6%, to trade at $2.674 per million British thermal units by 10:34AM ET (14:34GMT).
Futures had been down 2.1 cents, or about 0.8%, at $2.697 prior to the release of the supply data.
The commodity has fallen more than 1% in this first week of April as market experts warned that futures are likely to remain vulnerable in the near-term as spring usually sees the weakest demand for natural gas in the U.S.
The heating season from November through March is the peak demand period for U.S. gas consumption, as the absence of extreme temperatures curbs demand for heating and air conditioning.
Furthermore, record high domestic production levels have overshadowed the fact that stocks in storage are well below their seasonal averages for this time of year.