Investing.com - Natural gas futures rallied on Monday, as frigid winter temperatures and some snow was expected to return across parts of the U.S. Northeast and Midwest in the coming days.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, natural gas futures for delivery in April rose to a session high of $4.736 per million British thermal units, the most since February 25.
Nymex gas prices last traded at $4.702 per million British thermal units during U.S. morning hours, up 2%, or 9.5 cents.
The April contract rallied 2.17%, or 9.8 cents, on Friday to settle at $4.609 per million British thermal units.
Futures were likely to find support at $4.441 per million British thermal units, the low from February 27 and resistance at $4.774, the high from February 25.
Natural gas prices extended gains from Friday as updated weather-forecasting models called for another winter storm in the U.S. that may boost demand for heating.
The storm is expected to hit the East Coast after making its way across the Midwest and parts of the south, dropping freezing rain, sleet or snow.
Natural gas prices rallied to a more than five-year high of $6.493 per million British thermal units on February 20 as unusually cold winter temperatures in the U.S. led households to burn a higher than normal amount of the fuel in furnaces to heat their homes.
Total U.S. natural gas storage stood at 1.348 trillion cubic feet as of last week, the lowest for this time of year since 2004, following a withdrawal of 95 billion cubic feet.
Early withdrawal estimates for this week's storage data ranged from 140 billion cubic feet to 174 billion cubic feet, which is mostly above the year-ago draw of 149 billion cubic feet and well above the five-year average draw of 105 billion.
The heating season from November through March is the peak demand period for U.S. gas consumption. Approximately 52% of U.S. households use natural gas for heating, according to the Energy Department.
Elsewhere on the Nymex, light sweet crude oil futures for delivery in April shed 0.2% to trade at $102.36 a barrel, while heating oil for April delivery slumped 0.55% to trade at $3.021 per gallon.