Natural gas prices gain as inventories take unexpected dive
Published Jan 04, 2013 02:34PM ET
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, natural gas futures for delivery in February traded at USD3.281 per million British thermal units, up 2.61%.
The Energy Information Administration reported earlier that U.S. natural gas storage fell by a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 135 billion cubic feet last week, beating out market calls for a decline of 127 billion cubic feet.
The news brought in buyers who have spent several days on the sidelines thanks to forecasts for warmer weather.
Earlier this week, weather service provider MDA Weather said that it expected temperatures to warm up in the coming days through the second week of January.
Elsewhere, Commodity Weather Group in Bethesda, Maryland, reported that cooler temperatures across most of the mainland U.S. will thaw and yield to above-normal temperatures from Jan. 7 through Jan. 11, which sent natural gas prices plummeting in earlier sessions.
Natural gas futures are very sensitive to weather reports in the U.S. winter.
The U.S. heating season running from November through March sees peak demand for gas.
About half of U.S. households use gas for heating purposes, according to Energy Department data.
Elsewhere on the NYMEX, light sweet crude oil futures for delivery in February were up 0.16% and trading at USD93.06 a barrel, while heating oil for February delivery were down 0.28% and trading at USD3.0166 per gallon.
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Written By: Investing.com
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