Natural gas futures rally 2% with warm weather in focus
Investing.com
Published Aug 14, 2013 10:00AM ET
Market participants looked ahead to Thursday’s closely-watched U.S. supply data to gauge the strength of demand from U.S. households.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, natural gas futures for delivery in September traded at USD3.349 per million British thermal units during U.S. morning trade, up 1.9%.
Nymex gas futures rose by as much as 2% earlier in the session to hit a daily high of USD3.354 per million British thermal units.
The September contract settled down 0.75% at USD3.285 per million British thermal units on Tuesday.
Updated weather forecasting models pointed to warmer-than-normal temperatures in the northern tier of the U.S. from August 17 through August 26, boosting summer cooling demand for the fuel.
Demand for natural gas tends to fluctuate in the summer based on hot weather and air conditioning use.
Meanwhile, U.S. supply levels also remained in focus. Total U.S. natural gas storage stood at 2.941 trillion cubic feet as of last week, 0.7% above the five-year average and rising to a surplus for the first time since March.
Early injection estimates for Thursday’s storage data range from 62 billion cubic feet to 77 billion cubic feet, compared to a 20 billion cubic feet increase during the same week a year earlier.
The five-year average for the week is a build of 42 billion cubic feet.
The September contract has lost nearly 13% over the past three weeks, the biggest three-week drop in eight months, amid concerns over rising inventories and lingering below normal temperatures in the key Midwest and Eastern U.S. markets.
Elsewhere on the NYMEX, light sweet crude oil futures for delivery in September shed 0.4% to trade at USD106.40 a barrel, while heating oil for September delivery dipped 0.4% to trade at USD3.034 per gallon.
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Written By: Investing.com
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