Investing.com - U.S. natural gas futures pared losses on Thursday, after data showed U.S. natural gas supplies in storage fell by the most since February 2015 last week, as freezing weather conditions boosted demand.
Natural gas for delivery in March on the New York Mercantile Exchange dipped 3.0 cents, or 1.39%, to trade at $2.127 per million British thermal units by 14:35 GMT, or 9:35AM ET. Prices were at around $2.109 prior to the release of the supply data.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration said in its weekly report that natural gas storage in the U.S. in the week ended January 22 fell by 211 billion cubic feet, compared to expectations for a decline of 207 billion.
That compares with draws of 178 billion cubic feet in the prior week, 112 billion cubic feet in the same week last year and a five-year average of 174 billion.
Total U.S. natural gas storage stood at 3.086 trillion cubic feet, 17.2% higher than levels at this time a year ago and 14.0% above the five-year average for this time of year.
A day earlier, futures ended little changed as updated weather forecasting models called for less cold weather over the next two weeks. Forecasts originally called for frigid winter weather during the period.
The heating season from November through March is the peak demand period for U.S. gas consumption.
Elsewhere on the Nymex, crude oil for delivery in March rose 93 cents, or 2.88%, to trade at $33.22 a barrel, while heating oil for March delivery rallied 2.41 to trade at $1.061 per gallon.