By Barani Krishnan
Investing.com -- Utilities drew a lower-than-forecast 100 bcf, or billion cubic feet, from U.S. natural gas storage for heating and electricity generation last week, according to government data that left the fuel trading not far from the mid-$2.50 support as traders tried to discern direction for the market.
Analysts tracked by Investing.com had expected the EIA, or Energy Information Administration, to report a draw of 109 bcf for the week ended Feb. 10, less than half of the prior week’s consumption of 217 bcf.
The front-month March gas contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange’s Henry Hub was flat at $2.471 per mmBtu, or metric million British thermal units by 10:38 ET -- some eight minutes after the EIA report.
March gas sank to a 20-month low of $2.341 after the previous storage report on Feb. 3. The lowest for a front-month gas contract on the Henry Hub prior to that was $2.02, struck on Sept. 28, 2020.
An unusually warm start to the 2022/23 winter season has led to considerably less heating demand in the United States versus the norm, leaving more gas in storage than initially thought.
At the close of last week, U.S. gas storage stood at 2.266 tcf, or trillion cubic feet, up almost 17% from the year-ago level of 1.938 tcf, EIA data showed.
Responding to the warmth and lackluster storage draws, gas prices plunged from a 14-year high of $10 per mmBtu in August, reaching $7 in December and mid-$2 levels over the past three weeks.