Natural gas futures slipped despite a smaller-than-expected build in domestic stockpiles. So far this month, the energy commodity has engaged in a stop-and-start trading pattern, unable to initiate a breakout. Can natural gas prices stay above $2.50?

September natural gas futures tumbled $0.049, or 1.89%, to $2.548 per million British thermal units (Btu) at 16:33 GMT on Thursday on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Natural gas is on track for a weekly loss of nearly 3%, adding to its year-to-date decline of 37.5%.

According to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA), domestic inventories of natural gas increased by 49 billion cubic feet for the week ending July 7, down from the previous week’s boost of 68 billion cubic feet. This came in below the consensus estimate of 51 billion cubic feet.

In total, US supplies of natural gas stood at 2.93 trillion cubic feet, up 569 billion cubic feet from the same time a year ago. They are also 364 billion cubic feet above the five-year average.

Natural gas has come under pressure amid slowing North American and European demand. This has allowed for more of the so-called bridge fuel to stay in the US, as companies produce about 100 billion cubic feet per day. Meanwhile, Chinese demand for liquefied natural gas (LNG) has risen significantly in recent weeks.

In other industry news, New Zealand has warned that it has less than ten years until its natural gas reserves could exhaust.

In other energy commodities, September West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil futures rose $0.08, or 0.11%, to $75.83 per barrel. October Brent crude futures picked up $0.16, or 0.2%, to $80.25 a barrel. September gasoline futures shed $0.0184, or 0.69%, to $2.6486 a gallon. September heating oil futures dropped $0.0166, or 0.64%, to $2.5835 per gallon.