FX.co ★ US Natural Gas Storage Rises Further on Season Swing

US utilities and energy companies injected 50 billion cubic feet of natural gas into storage in the week ended April 3rd, lifting total inventories to 1.911 trillion cubic feet. The build was broadly in line with the median market forecast for a 46 bcf increase and confirmed the start of the seasonal storage build. The rise in inventories reflected robust domestic production in recent quarters, which has helped shield US gas prices and consumption from the ongoing global LNG disruption, as Iranian attacks on Qatari gas facilities and threats to LNG tankers in the Persian Gulf have constrained international flows. US gas stocks stood 4.9% above the level recorded in the same week a year earlier and 4.8% above the current five-year average.