The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) on Thursday reported an injection of 115 Bcf natural gas into storage for the week ending May 21. The result was bearish relative to analyst expectations and sent natural gas futures lower.

eia storage may 21

Ahead of the EIA report, the July contract was down 1.7 cents at $3.010/MMBtu. The prompt month dropped to around $2.978 when the EIA data was released, and by 11 a.m. ET, it was down 8.3 cents to $2.944.

Thursday marked July’s debut as the front month. A day earlier, it settled above $3.00.

Temperatures during the storage report week were cooler than normal over the southern United States and along the Mid-Atlantic Coast but warmer than normal – and generally comfortable — over the Mountain West and northern portions of the country....