Natural gas futures rose in New York on Nov. 20 after the first inventory decline of the U.S. heating season was bigger than forecast.
Stockpiles fell 17 billion cubic feet in the week ended Nov. 14 to 3.594 trillion, topping the five-year average decline of 10 billion for the period, the U.S. Energy Information Administration report showed. Analyst estimates showed a drop of 11 billion, as did a survey of Bloomberg users. A deficit to five-year average inventory levels widened for the first time since March.
“It was a little bit larger of a withdrawal than we expected,” said Elle Stamm, global natural gas analyst at Schneider Electric in Louisville, Kentucky. “With the cold continuing to hang around, especially in the Northeast, that will definitely boost heating demand.”
Natural gas for December delivery rose 3.8 cents, or 0.9%, to $4.409/MMBtu by late-morning on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Volume for all futures traded was 36% above the 100-day average. Prices are up 20% from a year ago.
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