Investing.com - Natural gas futures rallied to a one-month high on Thursday, after U.S. government data showed that natural gas supplies fell more-than-expected last week.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, natural gas futures for delivery in December traded at USD3.734 per million British thermal units during U.S. morning trade, up 1.6%.
Futures traded at USD3.707 prior to the release of the U.S. Energy Information Administration report.
Nymex gas prices rose to a session high of USD3.742 per million British thermal units earlier, the strongest level since October 21.
The front-month December contract ended 3.32% higher on Wednesday to settle at USD3.674 per million British thermal units.
Natural gas futures were likely to find support at USD3.549 per million British thermal units, the low from November 20 and resistance at USD3.817, the high from October 21.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration said in its weekly report that natural gas storage in the U.S. in the week ended November 15 fell by 45 billion cubic feet, compared to expectations for a withdrawal of 33 billion cubic feet.
Inventories fell by 36 billion cubic feet in the same week a year earlier, while the five-year average change for the week is a decline of 2 billion cubic feet.
Total U.S. natural gas storage stood at 3.789 trillion cubic feet. Stocks were 89 billion cubic feet less than last year at this time and 15 billion cubic feet above the five-year average of 3.774 trillion cubic feet for this time of year.
The report showed that in the East Region, stocks were 118 billion cubic feet below the five-year average, following net withdrawals of 31 billion cubic feet.
Stocks in the Producing Region were 96 billion cubic feet above the five-year average of 1.188 billion cubic feet after a net withdrawal of 13 billion cubic feet.
Meanwhile, updated weather forecasting models continued to point to colder than average temperatures in key gas-consuming regions in the U.S. during the next six-to-ten-days.
Natural gas prices have closely tracked weather forecasts in recent weeks, as traders try to gauge the impact of shifting outlooks on early-winter heating demand.
Elsewhere on the NYMEX, light sweet crude oil futures for delivery in January jumped 1.35% to trade at USD95.10 a barrel, while heating oil for December delivery added 0.65% to trade at USD2.973 per gallon.