Natural gas gains on chilly U.S. weather, shrugs off inventory data

Investing.com - Natural gas prices rose on Friday after updated weather forecasting models called for cold air to keep its grip across the central and eastern U.S., though a bearish supply report capped the commodity's gains albeit slightly.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, natural gas futures for delivery in February traded at USD4.368 per million British thermal units during U.S. trading, up 1.08%.

The commodity hit a session high of 4.389 and a low of 4.209, with support seen at 4.208, the earlier low, and resistance seen at 4.471, Monday's high.

The February contract settled up 2.15% lower on Thursday to end at USD4.321 per million British thermal units.

A winter storm system that dumped snow across the central and northeastern U.S. will leave frigid temperatures in its wake, which should hike demand for natural gas at the country's thermal power plants as homes and businesses crank up their heating.

Natgasweather.com reported in its 8-14 outlook that while moderate temperatures will return, they may be back for about a week when a fresh blast of cold air returns, which should hike demand for the commodity.

Uncertainty as to how far south that cold air mass may sweep capped gains as did bearish supply data, though slightly.

The Energy Information Administration reported earlier that U.S. Natural Gas Storage fell by a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 97 billion cubic feet compared to  a drop of 177 billion cubic feet in the preceding week.

Analysts were expecting U.S. Natural Gas Storage to fall by 126 billion last week.

Elsewhere on the NYMEX, light sweet crude oil futures for delivery in February were down 1.29% and trading at USD94.21 a barrel, while heating oil for February delivery were down 1.09% and trading at USD2.9540 per gallon.