Natural gas futures continued to stumble through midday trading Thursday as the market reaffirmed its initial bearish response to the latest government inventory report. Meanwhile, spot prices were down sharply despite unseasonably cool spring temperatures forecast for the Midwest and East through the weekend.

Here’s the latest:

  • May Nymex contract down 5.8 cents to $1.783/MMBtu as of 1:52 p.m. ET
  • Storage drawdown slightly lighter versus median of pre-report estimates

A sell-off was triggered after the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported a 37 Bcf withdrawal from Lower 48 storage for the week ending March 29. While near the midpoint of pre-report expectations, the magnitude of the withdrawal may have disappointed market bulls hoping to see a stronger drawdown...