Investing.com - Natural gas futures rallied on Thursday, after a report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration showed that natural gas supplies rose less-than-expected last week. Market participants also continued to focus on near-term weather forecasts to gauge the strength of demand for the fuel. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, natural gas futures for delivery in October traded at USD3.650 per million British thermal units during U.S. morning trade, up 2.3%. The October contract settled 0.5% lower at USD3.567 per million British thermal units on Wednesday. Prices rose by as much as 2.5% earlier in the day to hit a session high of USD3.662 per million British thermal units, the strongest level since September 5. Prices traded at USD3.578 prior to the release of the U.S. Energy Information Administration report. The U.S. Energy Information Administration said in its weekly report that natural gas storage in the U.S. in the week ended September 6 rose by 65 billion cubic feet, just below market expectations for an increase of 66 billion cubic feet. Inventories increased by 27 billion cubic feet in the same week a year earlier, while the five-year average change for the week is a build of 62 billion cubic feet. Total U.S. natural gas storage stood at 3.253 trillion cubic feet as of last week. Stocks were 172 billion cubic feet less than last year at this time and 46 billion cubic feet above the five-year average of 3.207 trillion cubic feet for this time of year. The report showed that in the East Region, stocks were 114 billion cubic feet below the five-year average, following net injections of 49 billion cubic feet. Stocks in the Producing Region were 106 billion cubic feet above the five-year average of 993 billion cubic feet after a net injection of 14 billion cubic feet. Updated weather forecasting models pointed to warmer-than-normal temperatures across most parts of the U.S. Midwest through mid-September, boosting near-term demand expectations. Market participants also monitored tropical storm activity in the Gulf of Mexico, amid concerns over a disruption to supplies from the region. The U.S. National Hurricane Center said Tropical Storm Gabrielle was moving north toward Bermuda, while Tropical Storm Humberto was moving northwest. Energy traders track tropical storm activity in the event it disrupts production in the Gulf of Mexico, which is home to 10% of U.S. natural gas production. Elsewhere on the NYMEX, light sweet crude oil futures for delivery in October rose 0.5% to trade at USD108.09 a barrel, while heating oil for October delivery jumped 1.1% to trade at USD3.106 per gallon.

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