The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported a 45 Bcf injection into natural gas storage inventories for the week ending Aug. 21, a figure that was right in line with consensus but below the year-ago and five-year average builds.

September Nymex gas futures, trading more than 12 cents higher ahead of expiration later Thursday at $2.584/MMBtu, slipped a couple of cents to $2.559 after the print crossed trading desks. By 11 a.m. ET, however, the prompt month was back at $2.58, up 11.9 cents from Wednesday’s close.

“I don’t think price knows what direction to go. There’s too much uncertainty,” said managing director Het Shah of The Desk’s online platform Enelyst.

With Hurricane Laura taking a direct hit at the Cameron liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal...