Investing.com - U.S. natural gas futures turned lower in North American trade on Thursday, reversing gains after data showed U.S. natural gas supplies in storage fell less than expected last week.
Natural gas for delivery in April on the New York Mercantile Exchange shed 0.7 cents, or 0.37%, to trade at $1.861 per million British thermal units by 14:32GMT, or 10:32AM ET. Prices were at around $1.882 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 March 11 declined by just 1 billion cubic feet, compared to expectations for a fall of 2 billion.
That compares with draws of 57 billion cubic feet in the prior week, 43 billion cubic feet in the same week last year and a five-year average of around 71 billion.
Total U.S. natural gas storage stood at 2.478 trillion cubic feet, 40.2% higher than levels at this time a year ago and 32.5% above the five-year average for this time of year.
Some market experts worry there may be too much gas left in storage at the end of March when utilities traditionally start injecting the fuel back into storage for the next winter.
A day earlier, natural gas futures rose 1.7 cents, or 0.92%, as a recovery from 17-year lows continued.
Prices have climbed for nine of the past ten days, rebounding more than 15% since falling to a 17-year low of $1.611 on March 4 as a failure to break below key support levels prompted market players to cover short positions amid bullish chart signals.
Despite recent gains, natural gas futures are down nearly 17% so far this year as weak winter heating demand, near-record production and record-high storage levels dragged down prices.
Natural gas prices have been on a downward trend since early 2014, as natural gas producers, especially shale drillers, pulled near record amounts of the fuel out of the ground.
Elsewhere on the Nymex, crude oil for delivery in April jumped $1.11, or 2.89%, to trade at $39.57 a barrel, while heating oil for April delivery tacked on 0.86% to trade at $1.241 per gallon.