Investing.com - U.S. natural gas futures were higher on Thursday, albeit off the best levels of the session after data showed that natural gas supplies in storage in the U.S. fell broadly in line with expectations last week.
Natural gas for March delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose 0.9 cents, or around 0.3%, to $3.138 per million British thermal units by 10:40AM ET (15:40GMT). Futures were at around $3.171 prior to the release of the supply data.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration said in its weekly report that natural gas storage in the U.S. declined by 152 billion cubic feet in the week ended February 3, compared to market expectations for a drop of 153 billion cubic feet.
That compared with a withdrawal of 87 billion cubic feet in the preceding week, 70 billion a year earlier and a five-year average drop of 138 billion cubic feet.
Total natural gas in storage currently stands at 2.559 trillion cubic feet, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, 11.3% lower than levels at this time a year ago and 1.8% above the five-year average for this time of year.
Prices of the heating fuel are down around 17% so far this year as forecasts for warm winter weather weighed on heating demand expectations.
Natural gas markets have been volatile in recent weeks, changing course rapidly in response to shifting outlooks in short-term weather patterns.
About half of U.S. homes use natural gas for heating.