Natural Gas Inventory Build Under Pressure as the Heat Rises

Natural gas futures prices were trading up about 0.6% in advance of the EIA’s report, at around $4.54 per million BTUs, and rose to around $4.67, up 3.5% over Wednesday’s close, immediately following the EIA report.

For the same week a year ago, stockpiles rose by 97 billion cubic feet, and the five-year average for the week is an increase of 88 billion cubic feet. Stockpiles are about 31% below their levels of a year ago and about 35% below the five-year average.

Next week’s forecast calls for warmer temperatures across a larger portion of the United States, driving up demand for cooling.

The EIA reported that U.S. working stocks of natural gas totaled 1.61 trillion cubic feet, about 877 billion cubic feet below the five-year average of 2.48 trillion cubic feet. Working gas in storage totaled 2.33 trillion cubic feet for the same period a year ago. Natural gas inventories are rising again but remain well below the bottom of the five-year range.

Here is how stocks of the largest U.S. natural gas producers reacting to the most recent report:

Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM), the country’s largest producer of natural gas, was up about 0.7% Thursday morning, at $102.66 in a 52-week range of $84.79 to $103.45.

Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK) was up about 2.2%, at $230.70 in a 52-week range of $19.32 to $30.80. The high was set earlier in the morning.

EOG Resources Inc. (NYSE: EOG) was up 1.3% to $112.12. The 52-week range is $62.27 to $112.97. EOG’s high was also set earlier in the morning.

ALSO READ: Ten States With the Fastest Growing Economies