Investing.com - U.S. natural gas futures pushed higher on Thursday morning, after data showed that natural gas supplies in storage in the U.S. rose slightly less than forecast last week.
Natural gas for delivery in December on the New York Mercantile Exchange inched up 1.5 cents, or 0.54%, to $2.807 per million British thermal units by 10:41AM ET (14:41GMT). Futures were at around $2.788 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 54 billion cubic feet in the week ended October 28, just below market expectations for an increase of 56 billion cubic feet.
That compared with a gain of 73 billion cubic feet in the preceding week, 56 billion a year earlier and a five-year average build of 63 billion cubic feet.
Total U.S. natural gas storage stood at 3.963 trillion cubic feet, just 1.2% higher than levels at this time a year ago and 4.4% above the five-year average for this time of year.
Natural gas futures are down 10% so far this week as warmer-than-average weather in key gas-consuming regions in the U.S. ignited speculation that a mild winter will curtail demand for the heating fuel and leave a glut of it in storage, weighing on prices next year.
Gas futures often reach a seasonal low in October, when mild weather reduces demand, before recovering in the winter, when heating-fuel use peaks.