Investing.com - Natural gas futures stayed higher on Thursday, but came off the best levels of the session after data showed that supplies in storage rose more than forecast last week.
Front-month U.S. natural gas futures inched up 1.5 cents, or around 0.5%, to $2.979 per million British thermal units (btu) by 10:36AM ET (1436GMT). Futures were at around $3.002 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. rose by 91 billion cubic feet (bcf) in the week ended June 15, above forecasts for a gain of 85 bcf.
That compared with a build of 96 bcf in the preceding week, an increase of 61 bcf a year earlier and a five-year average rise of 83 bcf.
Total natural gas in storage currently stands at 2.004 trillion cubic feet (tcf), according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
That figure is 757 bcf, or around 27.4%, lower than levels at this time a year ago, and 499 bcf, or roughly 19.9%, below the five-year average for this time of year.
Meanwhile, updated weather forecasting models pointed to above-average temperatures covering most of the country over the next two weeks.
That should help boost early summer cooling demand for the fuel.
Natural gas prices have closely tracked weather forecasts in recent weeks, as traders try to gauge the impact of shifting outlooks on early summer cooling demand.