Investing.com - U.S. natural gas futures revered losses on Thursday morning, turning higher after data showed that natural gas supplies in storage in the U.S. rose less than expected last week.
Natural gas for delivery in November on the New York Mercantile Exchange inched up 0.8 cents, or 0.27%, to trade at $3.013 per million British thermal units by 10:34AM ET (14:34GMT). Futures were at around $2.962 prior to the release of the supply data.
On Wednesday, futures dropped to $2.944, a level not seen since September 15.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration said in its weekly report that natural gas storage in the U.S. rose by 49 billion cubic feet in the week ended September 23, below expectations for an increase of 55 billion cubic feet.
That compared with a gain of 52 billion cubic feet in the preceding week, 96 billion a year earlier and a five-year average build of 97 billion cubic feet.
Total U.S. natural gas storage stood at 3.600 trillion cubic feet, 2.5% higher than levels at this time a year ago and 6.1% above the five-year average for this time of year.
Gas futures have made a dramatic recovery in recent months, rising nearly 50% since hitting a 20-year low of $1.611 in early March, as an unusually warm summer helped trim a supply surplus that was weighing on prices.
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 having started on September 22, power burns to feed air conditioning demand have probably peaked for now, market analysts said.