EIA Natural Gas Storage Build Of +40 Bcf Misses Expectations

On September 12, 2024, EIA released its Weekly Natural Gas Storage Report. The report indicated that working gas in storage increased by 40 Bcf from the previous week, compared to analyst consensus of +49 Bcf.

At current levels, stocks are 198 Bcf higher than last year and 296 Bcf above the five-year average for this time of the year.

Natural gas  prices moved higher as traders reacted to the EIA report. The natural gas storage build missed analyst expectations, which may provide additional support to prices in the near term.

Traders will also stay focused on the potential impact of Hurricane Francine. The hurricane has already forced production shut-ins in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico. At the same time, the hurricane would bring cooler weather and may lead to power outages, which will reduce demand for natural gas. In this situation, traders are trying to guess the ultimate impact on supply/demand balance.

From the technical point of view, natural gas continues its attempts to settle above the resistance at $2.25 – $2.30. RSI is in the moderate territory, so there is plenty of room to gain momentum in case the right catalysts emerge. In case natural gas manages to settle above the $2.30 level, it will head towards the next resistance level at $2.55 – $2.60.

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