Commodities▼ Bearish
Natural Gas Slips as Storage Glut and Weak Demand Weigh
Natural gas slipped 0.8% as a 57 bcf storage injection topped the five-year average and mild weather delayed seasonal demand. The $2.50 support level is in focus.
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Natural gas prices edged lower Monday, extending a stretch of weakness as storage surpluses and tepid weather-related demand kept the market oversupplied.
Front-month futures slipped 0.8% to $2.72 per million British thermal units, near the lower end of the range that has held since early September. The market has shed roughly 12% from late-August highs as a persistent storage build outpaced consumption.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration reported a 57-billion-cubic-foot injection into storage for the week ended Sept. 20, above the five-year average of 49 bcf. Total working gas in storage stood at 3.47 trillion cubic feet, about 6% above the five-year seasonal norm.
Mild temperatures across most of the Lower 48 through the first half of October have capped cooling demand, while heating demand has yet to ramp up. Forecast models show above-average temperatures persisting across the eastern half of the country into mid-October, delaying the seasonal demand pickup.