Investing.com - Natural gas prices took a dive on Thursday after data revealed U.S. stockpiles rose more than expected last week.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, natural gas futures for delivery in October were down 3.25% at $3.826 per million British thermal units during U.S. trading. The commodity hit a session low of $3.940, and a high of $3.993.
The October contract settled up 2.79% on Tuesday to end at $3.984 per million British thermal units.
Natural gas futures were likely to find support at $3.761 per million British thermal units, Monday's low, and resistance at $4.016, Tuesday's high.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration said in its weekly report that natural gas storage in the U.S. in the week ended Sept. 5 rose by 92 billion cubic feet, well above expectations for an increase of 82 billion cubic feet, which sent prices tumbling.
Inventories rose by 64 billion cubic feet in the same week a year earlier, while the five-year average change is a build of 60 billion cubic feet.
Injections of gas into storage have surpassed the five-year average for 21 consecutive weeks, alleviating concerns over tightening supplies.
Total U.S. natural gas storage stood at 2.801 trillion cubic feet. Stocks were 443 billion cubic feet less than last year at this time and 463 billion cubic feet below the five-year average of 3.264 trillion cubic feet for this time of year.
Meanwhile, updated weather forecasting models pointed to cooler-than-normal temperatures in some Northern Tier states along the Canadian border over the next two weeks.
Still, temperatures cold enough to seriously boost demand for heating should remain far to the north, which also fueled Thursday's selloff.
Elsewhere on the NYMEX, light sweet crude oil futures for delivery in October were up 0.87% at $92.47 a barrel, while heating oil for October delivery were down 0.12% at $2.7500 per gallon.