The NYMEX August natural gas futures contract increased Friday, up 2.10 cents to settle at $2.837/MMBtu after the US Energy Information Administration announced a larger-than-expected storage build for the week that ended June 29. Receive daily email alerts, subscriber notes & personalize your experience. Register Now The front-month contract traded Friday between $2.824/MMBtu and $2.862/MMBtu. The EIA announced a storage build of 78 Bcf, boosting total stocks to 2.152 Tcf for the week that ended June 29. Analysts had expected a 74 Bcf build. Total stocks are 717 Bcf below year-ago inventory levels and 493 Bcf under the five-year historical average. Although the storage deficit continues to persist, the market is factoring in the record production of the last few days and is not really reacting, according to Daniel Myers, a market analyst at Gelber & Associates. “In June, the market felt pressure that helped prices build […]