Natural Gas Hit by Inventory Data (UNG)

Natural gas futures and the United States Natural Gas Fund, LP (NYSE: UNG) are trading lower this morning after inventory data showed natural gas stockpiles rose 57 bcf last week. Most traders and analysts were expecting this week's storage report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration to show a build of about 52 bcf, according to data from Reuters. Last year stocks rose an adjusted 84 bcf for the same week, and on average for the past five years have gained 85 bcf. Last week's EIA storage report showed total domestic gas inventories rose by 62 bcf to 3.006 trillion cubic feet.

UNG tacked on a gain of over 6 percent in the past 5 trading sessions after reports showed that Tropical Storm Debby knocked out about 5 billion cubic feet of offshore Gulf of Mexico production over the weekend. Natural gas futures also got a boost due to forecasts that showed warmer weather in the U.S. which is boosting energy demand. Traders were shocked this week to learn that U.S. power plants produced the same amount of electricity from natural gas as from coal for the first time this past April.

UNG is trading lower by 3 percent in early trading on Thursday. Natural gas futures are trading back below $2.70 after bouncing off resistance below $3.00 yesterday.

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