Natural gas futures continued their march toward $3 toward the end of the trading week. Natural gas prices are on track for a weekly gain and have been doing well over the past month. But will the energy commodity firm above $3 or hover in a tight trading range?

November natural gas futures rose $0.034, or 1.17%, to $2.933 per million British thermal units (Btu) at 18:25 GMT on Thursday on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Natural gas prices have risen 3% this week, paring their year-to-date decline to below 29%.

The price jump occurred despite a slightly larger-than-expected build in US inventories.

According to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA), domestic supplies of natural gas surged by 90 billion cubic feet for the week ending September 22, up from 64 billion cubic feet a week ago. The consensus estimate was 88 billion cubic feet.

In total, US natural gas stocks stand at 3.359 trillion cubic feet, up 397 billion cubic feet from the same time a year ago. They are also 189 billion cubic feet above the five-year average. For the third consecutive week, the South Central region recorded an 18-billion-cubic-foot build in supplies after two straight weeks of drawdowns.

Investors pounced on a new Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas quarterly energy survey that suggested higher crude oil and natural gas prices are on the horizon. The report found that industry experts anticipate $88 US crude oil and $3.14 natural gas by the year’s end.

“As the White House administration continues its policies to slow down exploration and hence production, it should have the effect of increasing commodity prices,” said one exploration and production firm executive in the regional central bank’s report.

In other energy commodities, November WTI futures plunged $2.14, or 2.28%, to $91.54 per barrel. December Brent crude futures tumbled $1.47, or 1.56%, to $92.89 a barrel. November gasoline futures dropped $0.0776, or 3.04%, to $2.4719 per gallon. November heating oil futures edged up $0.01, or 0.3%, to $3.28 a gallon.