US energy companies added 85 billion cubic feet of natural gas to storage on the week that ended October 2nd, 2026, the most since late June following a lower restocking period in the Spring and Summer. The figure was above the preliminary estimate of 79 bcf. The increase lifted outstanding inventory to 3.500 trillion cubic feet, 3.6% below the corresponding period of the previous year as higher capacity in export plants and lower global supply from the Middle East incentivized companies to sell LNG abroad.