Natural Gas Futures Advance Early as Analysts Highlight Tightness in EIA South Central

As analysts continued to mull the balance implications of a government inventory report that surprised to the bullish side of market expectations, natural gas futures probed higher in early trading Friday. The August Nymex contract was up 3.2 cents to $3.720/MMBtu at around 8:50 a.m. ET.

The Energy Information Administration (EIA) on Thursday reported a 16 Bcf injection into U.S. natural gas stocks for the week ended July 2, a print that came in below the low end of estimates reported in major polls. 

A year earlier, EIA recorded a 57 Bcf injection, and the five-year average is 63 Bcf. Total working gas in storage increased to 2,574 Bcf — 551 Bcf below year-ago levels and 190 Bcf below the five-year average.

The reported 14 Bcf withdrawal in the South Central region for the...