Even though the 85 Bcf injection for the week ended May 5 was only slightly above the industry consensus, the build, plus an influx of selling at $7.00, were just enough to take the legs out of Wednesday’s natural gas futures rally. June natural gas traded within a range from $6.580 to $7.000 before settling at $6.649, down 25.1 cents on the day.

After opening at $7.000 on Thursday, the prompt month went into the 10:30 a.m. EDT Energy Information Administration (EIA) injection report trading at $6.910. On the sizeable injection, June natural gas dropped to trade at $6.650 just a few minutes later.

Even if it ends up being only for a day, natural gas futures on Thursday were able to separate from the problems facing the crude complex. One day after a Baker Hughes executive was gunned down in the southern Nigerian town of Port Harcourt, reports hit the news Thursday that three foreign oil workers had been kidnapped in the same town. Concerns over supply relaibility from Nigeria, tied with continued fear over the Iranian nuclear situation, pushed the petroleum complex higher again Thursday. June crude gained $1.19 to close at $73.32/bbl, while June heating oil and June unleaded gasoline increased by 3.17 cents and 5.02 cents, respectively, to close at $2.0964/gallon and $2.2196/gallon.

Unlike previous weeks during which the industry’s natural gas storage estimates were all over the place, most predictions this week seemed to center around a 79 Bcf injection. A Reuters survey of 18 industry players, Bentek Energy and the ICAP derivatives auction held Wednesday all predicted a 79 Bcf build. The 85 Bcf injection dwarfed last year’s 52 Bcf injection and covered the five-year average build of 71 Bcf.

“It was a big number, but we still aren’t going anywhere,” said Ed Kennedy of Commercial Brokerage Corp. in Miami. “Trade selling came in at $7.00 on the open, and we are not getting below support at $6.56. We have been testing $6.56 all week and it is clear the buying is down there. We are firmly in this trading range. I don’t think there is a lot of downside, but I also don’t think it is ready to break out to the upside yet. Following this market right now is like watching mollusks mate.”

Kennedy said the market needs “something else” before it can move out of this trading range. “The natural gas market is stuck right now on whether we get weather,” he added.

However, price-moving weather is not yet on the horizon, according to the National Weather Service (NWS). In the government agency’s latest six- to10-day climate forecast, everything east of a vertical line from West Texas up through the middle of the Dakotas is expected to experience below-normal temperatures from May 17-21, while everything west of a vertical line from the very tip of West Texas up through and including Wyoming and Montana is expected to be warmer than normal. The forecast would not seem to paint a high natural gas demand picture.

Jay Levine, a broker with enerjay LLC, said the 85 Bcf injection was on the high end of expectations and continues the trend of as “storage builds…demand doesn’t,” which “adds further pressure to a market already under pressure. Ever cook with a pressure cooker? All I’ll say is it can be tricky.”

As of May 5, working gas in storage stands at 1,989 Bcf, according to EIA estimates. Stocks are 488 Bcf higher than the same week last year and 714 Bcf above the five-year average of 1,275 Bcf. The East region lead the charge by injecting 49 Bcf into underground stores, while the Producing and West regions chipped in 24 Bcf and 12 Bcf, respectively.

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