For the second straight Thursday, natural gas traders ignored aseemingly bullish American Gas Association storage report bypressuring the market lower in light, long liquidation. The Junecontract was the hardest hit by the sell-off, slipping 6.4 cents to$2.295 in active trading.

Some traders were surprised by the market’s inability to rallyafter the measly 34 Bcf storage injection, which dropped theoft-quoted year-on-year storage figure to 131 Bcf. However, a GulfCoast marketer pointed to the other half of theequation-demand-which he feels is a bearish factor in the shortterm. “Temperatures have moderated considerably since last week.That coupled with the all the [nuclear units] that are coming backon line and you have a much different demand component in thismarket,” he said.

The price drop comes at a time when the market is trying toassess the uncertainties surrounding supply and demand, both nowand in the months to come, said Tom Saal of Miami-based PioneerFutures. “In the meantime, this market may be trying to establish atrading range,” he offered.

For the June contract, the Pegasus Econometric Group pegs thattrading range between recent lows and highs at $2.205 and $2.405respectively.

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