Natural Gas Plunges on Storage Rise
NEW YORK (
) -- Natural gas storage levels saw a better rise than analysts had been expecting Thursday, pushing natural gas futures below the $4 level.
According to the Energy Information Administration, underground storage in the lower 48 states saw an injection of 87 billion cubic feet for the week ending April 9. Market observers anticipated a rise between 76 billion to 80 billion cubic feet, according to a survey of analysts conducted by Platts.
Compared to recent history, the total inventory, which now stands at 1.756 trillion cubic feet, remains 3.8% higher than levels seen a year ago, and 16.3% higher than the five-year average.
Higher-than-expected inventories weighed heavily on natural gas futures and the May delivery contract plunged 5.1%, losing 21 cents to settle at $3.99 per million British thermal units,
The bearish report came a day after the EIA reported
a surprise drawdown
in oil stockpiles, propelling futures to a 2% jump on the day. The May delivery crude contract shed 33 cents, or 0.4%, to settle at $85.51 a barrel.
A firming dollar, which traded 0.4% higher against a collage of currencies on the dollar index, and a mix of economic data likely swayed oil prices during the session. Macroeconomic releases got off to a rough start with a surprising hike in
, which conflicted with promising economic
and
. Investors, however, managed to look past labor market weakness, focusing on the week's strong earnings results and stocks finished the session in positive territory.
Energy stocks showed slight gains, as the NYSE Arca Oil index added 0.2% and the Philadelphia Oil Service Sector index rose 0.3%.
On the
Dow
,
Chevron
(CVX) - Get Report
gained $1.01, or 1.3%, at $81.59 while
Exxon Mobil
(XOM) - Get Report
lost 35 cents, or 0.5%, to settle at $68.26.
Natural gas shares saw a mixed session with
Chesapeake Energy
(CHK) - Get Report
,
Gastar Exploration
(GST)
and
Devon Energy
(DVN) - Get Report
down by roughly 1% or more. Meanwhile,
Anadarko Petroleum
(APC) - Get Report
,
EOG Resources
(EOG) - Get Report
and
Delta Petroleum
( DPTR) all gained roughly 1% or more.
In deals news around the energy sector,
Apache
(APA) - Get Report
said
independent producer
Mariner Energy
( ME) in a deal worth a reported $2.7 billion. Mariner shares soared 42%, to $25.67.
Domestic coal producer
Peabody Energy
(BTU) - Get Report
also
Australia's
Macarthur Coal
to $3.8 billion, representing a 14% increase over its previous bid. Its stock shed 12 cents, or 0.3%, to $47.74.
Elsewhere on the Nymex, the May heating oil added a penny, or 0.5%, to settle at $2.25 a gallon, while May gasoline futures lost a penny, or 0.3%, to trade at $2.33.
--Written by Sung Moss and Melinda Peer in New York
.
