The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) on Thursday reported an injection of 36 Bcf natural gas into storage for the week ended July 23, a bullish print that sent natural gas futures higher.

EIA storage july 23

Ahead of the inventory report, the prompt month was up 1.6 cents at $3.983/MMBtu. The September contract jumped to around $4.010 when the EIA data was released at 10:30 ET, and 30 minutes later, it was up 7.8 cents day/day to $4.045.

Thursday marked September’s debut as the front month. A day earlier, August rolled off the board with a final settlement of $4.044.

Temperatures during the storage report week were lofty, according to NatGasWeather. “It was hotter than normal over the West and portions of the East Coast, while warm, showery, and humid over much of the rest of...