The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said natural gas storage inventories for the week ending April 14 increased by a larger-than-normal 75 Bcf, indicating that supply/demand balances remain far too loose.

The May Nymex gas futures contract was trading slightly lower day/day at $2.210/MMBtu early in Thursday’s session and slipped under $2.200 as the EIA print crossed trading desks. By 11 a.m., the prompt month was at $2.184, down 3.8 cents from Wednesday’s close.

“Looking at total degree days, we had a bunch of near-record low demand days, so this could have been worse really,” Vortex Commodities CEO Brian Lovern said on energy chat Enelyst.

[Where are natural gas prices headed this summer? Understand current market fundamentals and what they might mean...