Weak Weather, ‘Bloated’ Storage Pressure Natural Gas Futures Early

With a sizable inventory surplus continuing to hang over the market, natural gas futures were trading slightly lower early Friday.

The April Nymex contract was off 0.9 cents to $1.851/MMBtu as of 8:48 a.m. ET. May was down 2.2 cents to $1.986.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) on Thursday reported a 96 Bcf withdrawal from Lower 48 storage for the week ended Feb. 23. The print surprised to the bullish side of expectations but ultimately failed to move the needle for prices.

The surplus to the five-year average also increased week/week with the latest EIA result, climbing to 498 Bcf (plus-26.5%). The 2,374 Bcf of working gas in underground storage is also above the 2019-2023 range for this point in the season, according to EIA.

Analysts at Mobius Risk Group...