U.S. natural gas inventories increased by 42 billion cubic feet last week to 3,974 Bcf, and were 228 Bcf or 6.1% above the five-year average for the week, the EIA reports. The injection into storage was roughly in line with the 44 Bcf average estimate in a Wall Street Journal survey of analysts,

Natural gas futures have been climbing steadily toward the $3/MMBtu mark, a key psychological level fueled by multiple catalysts. The commodity jumped 9.4% on Monday alone, its biggest one-day gain in eight months.