Investing.com - Natural gas futures declined for the third straight day on Wednesday to hit its lowest level in more than 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 natural gas futures sank to an intraday low of $2.621 per million British thermal units, its worst level since March 26. It was last at $2.656 by 9:10AM ET (1310GMT), little changed on the day.
The commodity ended lower on Tuesday, amid speculation the start of spring will bring warmer temperatures throughout the U.S. and cut into demand for the fuel.
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.
Meanwhile, market participants looked ahead to this week's storage data due on Thursday, which is expected to show a draw of 11 billion cubic feet (bcf) in the week ended April 6.
That compares with a decline of 29 bcf in the preceding week, an increase of 10 bcf a year earlier and a five-year average rise of 9 bcf.
Total natural gas in storage currently stands at 1.354 trillion cubic feet (tcf), according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
That figure is 697 bcf, or around 34%, lower than levels at this time a year ago, and 347 bcf, or roughly 20.4%, below the five-year average for this time of year.
Record high domestic production levels have overshadowed the fact that stocks in storage are well below their seasonal averages for this time of year.