EIA Report to Decide Fate of Natural Gas Price Above $3.00

The upcoming EIA report on Thursday is expected to show a 32 Bcf injection for the week ended August 28, which could either confirm or deny the market's hopes of breaking above $3.00.

Currently, buyers are attempting to push through this price barrier, with lower-48 gas demand estimated at 79.5 Bcf per day on Wednesday, up 7.6% from a year ago due to hotter forecasts extending power burns into mid-September.

The heat is keeping the summer demand story alive deeper into September than traders expected, but there's still a risk that tropical systems and cooler models could take away power demand quickly.

LNG feedgas was estimated at 18.8 Bcf per day on Wednesday, near the strongest levels of the year, with European storage standing near 65% full at the end of August against a five-year seasonal average near 82%.