EIA Natural Gas Storage Draw Of -40 Bcf Misses Expectations

Natural gas prices moved lower as traders reacted to the report. From the technical point of view, natural gas continues its attempts to settle back above the $3.60 level.

Today, traders also had a chance to take a look at the EIA Weekly Petroleum Status Report. The report showed that crude inventories declined by 1 million barrels from the previous week, compared to analyst forecast of -0.6 million barrels.

Gasoline inventories increased by 6.3 million barrels, while analysts expected that they would grow by 1.5 million barrels. Distillate fuel inventories grew by 6.1 million barrels from the previous week.

Strategic Petroleum Reserve increased from 393.6 million barrels to 393.8 million barrels as U.S. continued to buy oil for strategic reserves.

Domestic production decreased from 13.573 million bpd to 13.563 million bpd. High domestic production levels serve as a bearish catalyst for oil markets.

WTI oil pulled back below the $73.50 level as traders focused on rising gasoline inventories. Brent oil declined towards the $76.00 level. From a big picture point of view, oil traders continue to take profits after the recent rally.