Bears rule the pits on both sides of the Atlantic.Despite bullish US storage data and the hottest weather of the summer so far,futures prices fell over 8% to the mid-$2.20s last week.Over in Europe,stocks are at their highest for this time of year in eight years.The US Energy Infonnation Administration(EIA)reported a build of 62 billion cubic feet for the week ended Jul.12,increasing the volume of working gas in storage to 2.533 trillion cubic feet(72 billion cubic meters).A build of 65 Bcf had been expected.That compares with the 63 Bcf five-year average build and last year's 46 Bcf build.The seasonal deficit is now at 143 Bcf,or 5.3%,and stocks are 291 Bcf,or 13%,higher than a year ago.“For the first time this season,the EIA reported an unmitigated bullish storage update,” independent analyst Stephen Schork says.“Not only was this report the first injection to not come in above the seasonally adjusted norm,it was the first injection to come in well below the lowermost range of the seasonal norm.” The typical injection for this report is 87 Bcf,plus or minus 17 Bcf,he says.It was the smallest build since early April,and the next injection will likely be even smaller.“A market that does not rally on bullish news is a bear market,” Schork says.
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