The NYMEX June natural gas futures contract settled 14.5 cents higher at $2.751/MMBtu Thursday as the market reacted to a government report showing a smaller-than-expected storage injection for the week ended April 24. US natural gas in storage rose 81 Bcf to 1.71 Tcf for the week ended April 24, the US Energy Information Administration said Thursday, below Platts’ consensus expectations of an injection of between 84 Bcf and 88 Bcf. “People got caught by surprise,” said Derek Salvino, vice president of research at Tradition Energy. “When I saw the [EIA storage] number myself, I did a double take.” However, Thursday’s rally does nothing to change the natural gas market’s bearish near-term fundamentals, Salvino said. “I don’t think it changes the fundamentals of injection season,” he said. “We’re going to see big healthy injections.” Article continues below… By the end of injection season this year, total storage stocks could […]