Natural gas reverts lower as supplies data shows surprise increase
By Claudia Assis and Nick Godt, MarketWatch
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — Crude-oil prices fell for the third day in a row Thursday, weighed by expectations that a major pipeline from Canada to the Midwest is set to reopen and weak U.S. economic data.
Crude oil for October delivery (CLV10 74.67, -1.35, -1.78%) slid $1.09, or 1.5%, at $74.89 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Natural gas turned lower as a government report nipped a four-day winning streak in the bud.
Natural gas for October delivery (NGV10 3.88, -0.11, -2.85%) retreated 10 cents, or 2.5%, to $3.90 per million British thermal units.
Prices had hovered around $4.02 per million Btus before the Energy Information Administration showed an increase of 103 billion cubic feet in the nation’s storages of natural gas for the week ended Sept.10.
Analysts polled by Platts had expected an increase of 88 billion cubic feet to 92 billion cubic feet.
The increase compares to 67 billion cubic feet reported for the comparable week last year and a five-year average of 77 billion cubic feet.
Meanwhile, Enbridge Energy Partners (EEP 52.51, -0.05, -0.10%) said late Wednesday it expects to return its 670,000 barrel-a-day Line 6A pipeline to service Friday. A leak forced closure of the pipeline last week.
“The Enbridge pipeline and Tropical Storm Karl are all that lies between current prices and a slide lower,” said Mike Fitzpatrick, energy analyst at MFGlobal, in a note. “Economic data is both sparse and looked at with increasing skepticism,” he said.
Oil held to losses after the Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank’s regional survey showed still slugging business activity.
Earlier, the Labor Department said jobless claims fell by 3,000 to 450,000 in the latest week. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch expected claims to rise to 460,000.
On Wednesday, crude oil fell even after a report showing a drop in U.S. inventories failed to ease concern over high supplies.
