As the week rolls to a close, we saw a decreased volume in trading today. Despite this, traders did push the NYMEX front month to a four-week high of $3.13 US/MMBtu, but resistance from bears and negative labor data caused the front month to slip to $3.05 US/MMBtu. This marks the end of a week that saw a rally of $0.05 $US/MMBtu as traders looked to push out the forwards.

Weather forecasts continue to show moderate temperatures in eastern North American for the start of September preventing any significant end of summer demand spikes. The weekly EIA data released yesterday showed a +55 Bcf injection, representing the second largest injection week of the summer. The large growth was primarily due to the cooler temperatures, a trend expected to continue with next week’s EIA release. Lower 48 storage levels now sit at 3,272 Bcf (173 Bcf or 5.6% higher than the 5-year average). The storage difference between 5-year average is only expected to grow in upcoming weeks as demand remains low. (PB)