The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) on Thursday reported an injection of 58 Bcf natural gas into storage for the week ended July 8. The result was in line with expectations – and above the five-year average – and it at least temporarily deflated a Nymex natural gas futures rally.

The latest build lifted working gas in storage to 2,369 Bcf. Still, stocks were 252 Bcf lower than a year earlier and 319 Bcf below the five-year average.

After jumping 52.6 cents on Wednesday, the August futures contract was up 13.8 cents at $6.827/MMBtu prior to the 10:30 a.m. ET inventory report. The prompt month dipped to around $6.756 when the EIA data was released. By 11 a.m., it was down 6.2 cents to $6.627.

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