Natural Gas Inventory Gain Grows, but Still Way Behind Averages

Natural gas futures prices were trading down about 1.5% in advance of the EIA’s report, at around $4.05 per million BTUs, and slipped further to near $3.95 immediately following the report.

For the same week a year ago, stockpiles rose by 58 billion cubic feet, and the five-year average for the week is an increase of around 65 billion cubic feet. Stockpiles are about 22.2% below their levels of a year ago and about 25.5% below the five-year average.

Cooler temperatures settled in on the Midwest and the Northeast last week, and more of the same is expected for this week and into next. Demand for cooling is expected to be low as a result, and that should push the price of natural gas lower going forward.

The EIA reported that U.S. working stocks of natural gas totaled 2.13 trillion cubic feet, about 727 billion cubic feet below the five-year average of 2.86 trillion cubic feet. Working gas in storage totaled 2.74 trillion cubic feet for the same period a year ago. Natural gas inventories continue to rise, but remain well below the bottom of the five-year range.

Here is how stocks of the largest U.S. natural gas producers reacted to the latest report:

Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM), the country’s largest producer of natural gas, was down about 0.2%, at $103.50 in a 52-week range of $84.79 to $104.61.

Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK) was also down about 1.1%, at $27.54 in a 52-week range of $20.51 to $29.92.

EOG Resources Inc. (NYSE: EOG) was up about 0.5% to $117.67. The 52-week range is $70.78 to $118.89.

The United States Natural Gas ETF (NYSEMKT: UNG) was down about 3.4%, at $21.88 in a 52-week range of $16.59 to $27.89.

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