Investing.com - Natural gas futures were lower on Wednesday, pulling back from their highest level in around two weeks as investors looked ahead to weekly data from the U.S. on supplies in storage to gauge demand for the fuel.
Front-month U.S. natural gas futures dipped 1.5 cents, or around 0.5%, to $2.699 per million British thermal units (btu) by 9:25AM ET (1325GMT). It reached its best level since March 15 at $2.731 in overnight trade.
The commodity jumped 2.1% on Tuesday, boosted by forecasts for a bump in late-winter heating demand.
Updated weather forecasting models showed that cooler than normal temperatures will spread across the northern United States during the first week of April.
However, market experts warned that futures are likely to remain vulnerable in the near-term as the coldest part of the winter has effectively passed.
Spring usually sees the weakest demand for natural gas in the U.S, as the absence of extreme temperatures curbs demand for heating and air conditioning.
The heating season from November through March is the peak demand period for U.S. gas consumption.
Meanwhile, market participants looked ahead to this week's storage data due on Thursday, which is expected to show a draw of around 87 billion cubic feet (bcf) in the week ended March 23.
That compares with a decline of 86 bcf in the preceding week, a fall of 43 bcf a year earlier and a five-year average drop of 46 bcf.
Total natural gas in storage currently stands at 1.446 trillion cubic feet (tcf), according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
That figure is 667 bcf, or around 31.5%, lower than levels at this time a year ago, and 329 bcf, or roughly 18.5%, below the five-year average for this time of year.
Despite stocks being well below their seasonal averages for this time of year, record high production levels are expected to keep a lid on prices.