US energy companies injected 41 billion cubic feet (bcf) of natural gas into storage in the week ending July 10th, bringing total inventories to 3,024 bcf, according to the latest data from the US EIA. The build was broadly in line with market expectations for a 43 bcf increase and marked the smallest weekly addition since the first week of June, when injections peaked at 108 bcf for the season.
Storage levels were 0.7% lower than in the same week a year earlier, as increased LNG exports offset record-high domestic production. Even so, inventories remained 6.4% above the current five-year average.