Natural Gas Futures Called Slightly Higher as Ida Creating ‘Uncertainty’ for Storage Print

Natural gas futures hovered close to even early Thursday as traders and analysts awaited the latest government inventory data in hopes of shedding more light on Hurricane Ida’s impacts on supply and demand. Adding to an impressive 34.6-cent rally in the previous session, the October Nymex contract was up 1.4 cents to $4.928/MMBtu at around 8:50 a.m. ET.

Predictions for the latest U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) storage report, scheduled for 10:30 a.m. ET, suggest a net injection into Lower 48 gas stocks in the upper 30s or low 40s Bcf.

NGI estimated a 38 Bcf injection into U.S. natural gas stocks for the EIA report, which covers the week ended Sept. 3.

Injection estimates in a Bloomberg poll landed at a median of 39 Bcf. Predictions ranged from 32 Bcf to 58...