Natural gas prices increased on Friday, closing the week up  0.78%, or 0.014 cents to trade at $1.808 per million British thermal units , following the release of Thursday’s US natural gas storage data.

natural gas

In a report issued by the Energy Information Administration, official data showed on Thursday that U.S. natural gas storage increased less than the markets had been anticipating.  U.S. Natural Gas Storage increased to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 15B, from the -1B recorded in the preceding month. This came after analysts had been expecting U.S. Natural Gas Storage to increase 20B in the last month.

The gains made on Friday followed  natural gas plunging 3.7%, or 6.9 cents, on warmer weather forecasts and higher temperatures for most  of the U.S. in the coming weeks. Natural Gas usage normally hits a seasonal low  around this time of year with due to the mild temperatures Spring brings. Natural gas usage then increases as  warmer weather means a heightened demand for gas-fired electricity generation to run air conditioning units, most notably in the US.

Since the start of the year,  natural gas prices have fallen approaching 20% as a combination of a mild winter ensuring weak winter heating demand, increased production output and  storage levels hitting record highs,  have forced down natural gas prices.