Investing.com - U.S. natural gas futures were lower on Thursday, reversing earlier gains after data showed that domestic supplies in storage rose broadly in line with market expectations last week.
U.S. natural gas for September delivery was at $2.804 per million British thermal units by 10:40AM ET (1440GMT), down 0.7 cents, or around 0.3%. Futures were at around $2.841 prior to the release of the supply data.
Prices ended marginally lower on Wednesday amid bearish weather forecasts that should limit demand for the fuel.
Natural gas prices have closely tracked weather forecasts in recent weeks, as traders try to gauge the impact of shifting outlooks on summer cooling demand.
Nearly 50% of all U.S. households use gas for cooling.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration said in its weekly report that natural gas storage in the U.S. rose by 20 billion cubic feet in the week ended July 28, just below forecasts for a build of 21 billion.
That compared with a gain of 17 billion cubic feet in the preceding week, a withdrawal of 6 billion a year earlier and a five-year average rise of 44 billion cubic feet.
Total natural gas in storage currently stands at 3.010 trillion cubic feet, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, 8.5% lower than levels at this time a year ago but 2.9% above the five-year average for this time of year.