Investing.com - Natural gas shot up on Thursday after data revealed U.S. stockpiles rose less than expected last week.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, natural gas futures for delivery in August traded at $3.832 per million British thermal units during U.S. trading, up 1.85%. The commodity hit a session high of $3.883 and a low of $3.747.
The August contract settled down 0.27% on Wednesday to end at $3.762 per million British thermal units.
Natural gas futures were likely to find support at $3.747 per million British thermal units, the session low, and resistance at $4.173, the high from July 14.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration said in its weekly report that natural gas storage in the U.S. in the week ended July 18 rose by 90 billion cubic feet, below expectations for an increase of 96 billion cubic feet.
The five-year average change for the week is an increase of 46 billion cubic feet.
Total U.S. natural gas storage stood at 2.219 trillion cubic feet. Stocks were 561 billion cubic feet less than last year at this time and 683 billion cubic feet below the five-year average of 2.902 trillion cubic feet for this time of year.
Natural gas prices have succumbed to heavy selling pressure in recent sessions as a shot of cooler temperatures moved across the heavily-populated Midwest and Northeast regions.
Demand for natural gas tends to fluctuate in the summer based on hot weather and air conditioning use.
Elsewhere on the NYMEX, light sweet crude oil futures for delivery in September were down 0.75% at $102.35 a barrel, while heating oil for August delivery were down 0.03% at $2.8746 per gallon.