US natural gas storage rises – ING

US natural gas prices traded under pressure as the US witnessed its second straight week of inventory injection while weather forecasts remained mixed, ING's commodity experts Ewa Manthey and Warren Patterson note.

Oil prices are trading almost flat

"The weekly inventory report from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) shows that US natural gas storage increased by 37bcf over the last week, above the expected 32bcf increase. However, this was contrary to the five-year average decline of 31 bcf. Meanwhile, total gas stockpiles totalled 1.74tcf as of 21 March, down 24.2% year-on-year and 6.5% below the five-year average."

"Oil prices are trading almost flat this morning as the market remains cautious about softer demand and rising supply. The OPEC+ group is scheduled to start reviving its idled production with the first monthly increases of 138k b/d next month, following its decision to gradually unwind the output cuts of 2.2m b/d by 2026." 

"On the other hand, some of the OPEC countries have agreed to further reduce the output (ranging from 189k b/d to 435k b/d until June 2026) to compensate for higher production earlier. The cuts, if implemented, will help offset the production hikes and balance the market in the immediate term."