Investing.com - U.S. natural gas futures were lower on Thursday, adding to losses after data showed that natural gas supplies in storage in the U.S. fell less than expected last week.
U.S. natural gas for April delivery sank 8.0 cents, or around 2.7% to $2.902 per million British thermal units by 10:35AM ET (14:35GMT). Futures were at around $2.918 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 53 billion cubic feet in the week ended March 10, missing market expectations for a drop of 56 billion cubic feet.
That compared with a withdrawal of 68 billion cubic feet in the preceding week, 1 billion a year earlier and a five-year average drop of 85 billion cubic feet.
Total natural gas in storage currently stands at 2.242 trillion cubic feet, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, 9.5% lower than levels at this time a year ago but 17.6% above the five-year average for this time of year.
Prices of the heating fuel are down around 22% so far this year as forecasts for warm winter weather weighed on heating demand expectations.
Based on data from the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, this year’s extremely warm winter has pushed heating demand for natural gas to nearly 20% below average.
About half of U.S. homes use natural gas for heating.
Without significant demand for natural gas, inventories could stay near record levels and may even continue to pull prices even lower.