Investing.com - U.S. natural gas futures trimmed losses on Thursday morning, after data showed that natural gas supplies in storage in the U.S. rose less than forecast last week.
Natural gas for delivery in October on the New York Mercantile Exchange shed 1.1 cents, or 0.38%, to trade at $2.878 per million British thermal units by 10:33AM ET (14:33GMT). Futures were at around $2.838 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 62 billion cubic feet in the week ended September 9, below expectations for an increase of 63 billion.
That compared with a gain of 36 billion cubic feet in the preceding week, 74 billion a year earlier and a five-year average build of 69 billion cubic feet.
Total U.S. natural gas storage stood at 3.499 trillion cubic feet, 5.3% higher than levels at this time a year ago and 8.6% above the five-year average for this time of year.
On Wednesday, gas futures surged to a more than two-month high of $2.978 amid forecasts for warmer than normal temperatures across most parts of the continental U.S. in the days ahead.
Despite the recent rally, gains are likely to remain limited as traders react to the reality that higher summer demand for the commodity is coming to an end.
Demand for natural gas tends to rise in the summer months as warmer temperatures increase the need for gas-fired electricity to power air conditioning.
But with autumn due to start on September 22, power burns to feed air conditioning demand have probably peaked for now, market analysts said.
Unless intense late-summer heat boosts demand from power plants, stockpiles could possibly test physical storage limits of 4.3 trillion cubic feet at the end of October.